Bat-flips, brawls and bobbleheads — José Bautista reflects on epic Blue Jays career ahead of ceremony

José Bautista feels the 2015 and 2016 Toronto Blue Jays seasons provided the most joy in his highlight-filled career. However, eight years later, the way the 2015 American League Championship Series ended against the Kansas City Royals still stings.

In advance of Bautista being added to the Blue Jays' level of excellence this weekend, the retired slugger reflected on his 10-year path in Toronto during a media conference call on Tuesday.

"When I look back, 2015 is the one that kind of slipped away," admitted Bautista, who is now 42 and resides in his Tampa Bay-area home, dedicating his time to being a devoted full-time father to his four daughters.

"Because of all the additions we made at that deadline, we caught fire in the second half after hovering around .500. We won a ridiculous amount of games in the second half.

Trailing in the ALCS 3 games to 2, Bautista hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to tie Game 6 3-3 with his second round-tripper that day. But the Royals scored the go-ahead running in the bottom of the inning.

In the ninth, the Blue Jays put runners on first and third with none out. But they failed to cash in the tying run, with the game ending on a Josh Donaldson groundout to third.

In the previous series against the Texas Rangers, Bautista slammed his memorable three-run homer in the seventh inning of Game 6 to put Toronto in front 6-3 for good to the deciding game.

WATCH | Bautista's famous bat-fip home run in 2015 ALCS against Rangers:

Before he began his trot around the bases, Bautista flipped his bat, much to the dismay of the Rangers.

A Bautista bobblehead figure, capturing this memorable moment in Blue Jays history, will be presented to fans entering Rogers Centre on Saturday."

Bautista