It was the biggest sports highlight of the week — Jose Bautista crushing an American League Division Series-clinching three-run homer 442 feet to send the Toronto Blue Jays into the AL Championship Series.
However, as much as the home run Wednesday night was talked about, what Bautista did next might have made even more headlines. That's because after smacking the homer, the Blue Jays right fielder admired the shot and flipped his bat in celebration before a raucous Toronto home crowd.
Bautista's gazing of the long ball and bat flip created so much of a stir that it led to ESPN's Sport Science analyzing the moment in thoroughly over-the-top fashion — like only it can.
First thing that Sport Science host John Brenkus noted was that Bautista stopped to appreciate his clutch home run for .83 seconds, which he says is "about four times longer than the single flap of an actual Blue Jay wing."
Oh, but Sport Science wasn't done with its thorough analysis, because next up to be scrutinized was the infamous bat flip, which Brenkus noted was hurled by Bautista at 540 degrees per second like a forehand in tennis. He added that Bautista launched the bat at 25 miles per hour.
Calculating a 60-degree launch angle and 1.0 drag coefficiency of the bat combined with the 270-foot elevation of the Rogers Centre and the atmospheric roar of the crowd, Sport Science concluded that Bautista flipped his bat an estimated height of 12 feet and three inches. With 1.6 seconds of flight time, the bat also hit the ground with an estimated 30 pounds of force. Wow.
If there's anyone breaking down the science of sports like ESPN's Sport Science, Tech Times would love to know ... and admire that person like Bautista did with his home run.
Sport Science's complete breakdown of Bautista's bat flip can be seen here.
