Rangers' Holland 'not a big fan' of Jose Bautista
Less than a week after his team was ousted from the postseason by the Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers left-hander Derek Holland voiced his displeasure with one of the men responsible for sending him and his teammates to the golf course: Jose Bautista.
"He's the most animated player I've ever seen," Holland told KRLD-FM 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday. "After watching him in the outfield cry about every single thing, it's unbelievable. I don't care if he hits a home run off me, that's fine, I give up home runs, I've struck people out, I do all that stuff, it's how baseball goes. But the way you do it - is he better than the game? Yeah, you lived in the moment, that's great. You hit a home run? Yeah, you can pimp it. That's fine. But the way he did it, I just think that one - that's a bit much."
Bautista effectively sealed Texas' fate with a monstrous, go-ahead home run in the seventh inning of Game 5 of the American League Division Series, but really drew his opponents' ire with his ensuing bat flip, sure to be one of the most enduring moments in Blue Jays history.
Related: An oral history of the bat flip heard 'round the world
"That's cool if you want to stare at the pitcher, because obviously the pitcher made the mistake. If it's me, I made the mistake; you hit the home run? Cool, stare at me. I'm going to be the one that's not actually staring at you, I'm going to watch and see how far you just hit it because that's how I am. I like to punish myself by seeing that. But the way he did it, I don't like it at all. I mean, personally, I don't like him, either.
"Especially after seeing more about him during the game, and being out in the outfield and seeing how he complains about every single thing. It's like, no matter what, if you throw anything close to the plate, and it's a ball, it's supposed to be a ball for him - no matter what. It's like we can't have any calls or anything like that, it's always his way. I just don't like that. I'm not a big fan of him."
Not surprisingly, Holland would prefer to see the Kansas City Royals advance to the World Series.
"Oh yeah. I'm rooting for Kansas City. Couple of my buddies play for Kansas City, definitely want to see them go out there. One of my closest friends, Eric Hosmer, is playing so I'm pulling for them. I know they don't seem to get along with Toronto either."
Holland, who missed most of the regular season with a shoulder strain, didn't make it out of the third in his lone start this postseason. He allowed six runs and three homers over two-plus innings in Game 4 of the ALDS, an 8-4 loss.