Game...Series...Toronto Has Won (Joey vs. Kawhi)

What happens when the nickname supersedes the actual name: Joey = José, obviously.

The bat-flip clip has about 4 million views on YouTube, the shot around 4.5 million.

If you're a Texas Rangers or Philadelphia 76'ers fan, you may be excused.

carter >>>>>>> kawhi > bautista

Putting aside Kawhi for a moment, to me the context of Bautista's HR made it more cathartic than Carter's.

1) The '93 Jays had won the previous WS, and were in their ninth year of steady success; Bautista's HR was for a team making its first playoff appearance in 22 years.

2) If the Jays lost the Carter game, there's still tomorrow; the Jays had to win the Bautista game.

3) The unbelievable weirdness of the Bautista inning--Martin's interference call, the three Rangers errors--just added to its impact; there was a little bit of that in the Carter inning (Mitch Williams almost falling off the mound), but that 7th inning in 2015 was one of a kind.

4) The bat flip, of course, and the way it captured Bautista's me-against-the-world style of playing. (I'm someone who will defend the bat flip without equivocation.)

On the other side of the ledger, the difference between a 5-game playoff and the WS, yes. And if the Jays weren't repeat winners in '93--if it had been their first WS win--I'm quite sure that would tip the scales for me, too.

those are fair points, but kids don't dream about putting their team ahead in a wild card game -- they dream about winning the world series with a walk-off homer

that was an incredibly weird inning though!

But those same kids have been practicing their bat-flips in the backyard ever since...

and while i won’t say it’s a better image than the bat flip, carter jumping down the third base line is pretty good

They all make great T-shirts.

https://phildellio.tripod.com/t-shirt1.jpg
https://phildellio.tripod.com/t-shirt2.jpg
https://phildellio.tripod.com/t-shirt3.jpg

(An illustration of Kawhi crouched down in the corner after making the shot would be better.)

Comparing Bautista to Kawhi, you end up with some of the same things on Kawhi's side: his shot ended a series, and the Raptors went on to win everything. Another esoteric point for Kawhi--like how bizarre the Bautista inning was--was what I'll call the Tiger Effect, the way his shot rolled around the rim three times before going in (Woods' famous chip shot). Point for Bautista: whereas he had been with the Jays for a while, Kawhi was just passing through.

this is definitely kawhi, come on. it's the only game 7 buzzer beater in NBA history

amazing gravity-defying shot, amazing moment, led a team who experienced repeated playoff heartbreak to their first ring...

Kawhi, how is this a question

(don't even care about sports that much tbh but obligated to comment as a Torontonian)

(xpost) To me, that seems like something you might think about later, but not in the moment. (When the shot went in, how many people were even aware that had never been done before?) The four things I mentioned above for Bautista's HR--the 20+-year drought for the Jays, the immediacy of win-or-go-home (also true with Kawhi), the totality of the inning (especially getting a reprieve from the Martin play--which I misidentified as interference above), and the bat-flip--all of that comes into play immediately as the ball leaves the field. (Which is why I understood and have defended the bat-flip.)

Leonard said of the shot afterward: "It was great. That's something I've never experienced before, Game 7, game-winning shot. It was a blessing to be able to get to that point and make that shot and feel that moment. It's something I can look back on in my career."

He should have been in the NHL

Jose's play does have its own wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Bautista%27s_bat_flip

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Kawhi looks like he'll win, however many votes, so I'll go with Bautista.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Man, what does it take to excite you people?

lol canadian sports fan contingent stand up

https://www.theringer.com/project/100-best-sports-moments-of-the-century

bat flip lands at 28, the shot at 14