Former Toronto Blue Jays third baseman José Bautista is the new principal owner of USL Championship franchise Las Vegas Lights FC, the club announced Tuesday.
“Las Vegas is the place to be and has emerged as a great professional sports city, and I will do everything I can to move this club forward,” Bautista said in a statement.
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“As a soccer fan and former professional athlete, I am excited to participate in global sports. Since my retirement from professional baseball, I have witnessed the incredible growth of soccer in the United States and look forward to sharing my love of soccer sports with the Las Vegas soccer community.
Bautista was a six-time All-Star with a career .247 batting average with 344 home runs, 975 RBIs and 1,022 runs scored. He played 15 seasons and donned the jersey of eight franchises along the way, but it was his game-winning home run in the 2015 playoffs, and the bat swing that followed, that cemented him in Blue Jays history.
The tiebreaking three-run homer in the seventh inning of the decisive Game 5 of the 2015 American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers was capped by a memorable swing of the bat before he began rounding the bases in front of a raucous crowd. Toronto crowd.
“I passed out after the swing, listening to the roar of the crowd and the excitement of the moment,” Bautista told ESPN in 2021. “I don't really remember anything in particular until I caught my breath on the bench.” “.
Las Vegas Lights FC has played in the USL Championship since 2018. The team plays its home games at Cashman Field and the 2024 season begins in March.
According to the club's press release, Bautista was one of the first equity partners in Marucci Sports, a new baseball equipment company that was sold to Compass Diversified Holdings in 2020.
Bautista represented the Dominican Republic at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. His leadership helped the Dominican Republic team win a bronze medal, punctuated by a hit and his trademark bat that sealed the victory over Israel to secure the team's place in the semifinals.
