THIS DAY IN BÉISBOL September 17: Jose Bautista sets Blue Jays record with 48 HR

In what turned out to be his best power year, Jose Bautista set a Blue Jays franchise record with his 48th home run on this day in baseball, September 17, 2010.

The Toronto right fielder slammed the homer in the sixth inning of an 11-9 thriller in Boston that saw the Red Sox battle back from a 10-2 score in the final innings but fall short.

“Joey Bats,” of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic passed the club record of 47 set by slugger George Bell in 1987. Bautista ended the season with a MLB-leading 54 homers and 351 total bases. He hit 344 lifetime dingers over a 15-year career spent mostly with the Blue Jays.

Also on this day: In 2011, Yankees closer Mariano Rivera gets his 601st career save, tying Trevor Hoffman’s all-time major league record.

Fernando Valenzuela hurled his eighth shutout of the season in 1981 to set the National League rookie mark, a record shared with two other pitchers.

In 1999, Kansas City Royals phenom Carlos Beltran passed 100 RBI and 100 runs scored to become the first rookie to accomplish that feat since Red Sox outfielder Fred Lynn in 1975. Beltran, of Puerto Rico, won Rookie of the Year honors with 22 HR, 108 RBI and a .293 average.

Photo: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0; LatinoBaseball illustration