Joey Bats keeps on winning
Jose Bautista can now add something else to his long list of titles.
The Blue Jays legend and bat flip king is now a sports team owner.
In January of 2024, Bautista headed up a group of investors that purchased the Las Vegas Lights, a soccer team in the USL Championship, a Division II League.
The results paid off almost immediately.
Under Bautista's ownership, and with new head coach Dennis Sanchez leading the way, the Lights put up their bast season in franchise history on route to the conference final.
While they ultimately didn't win the championship, the Lights reached the playoffs for the first time since their founding in 2017.
The Lights, known for their unusual gimmicks and promotional strategies - including having two llamas as mascots finished 13-10-11 in the 2024 season. Jamaican forward Khori Bennett was their leading scorer with 16 goals.
The Las Vegas Lights isn't the only business Bautista has bought into since his retirement as a player.
He also owns Tampa Bay-based fitness company Diesel Optimization, as well as Dominican Coffee Company Bella Aldea, now in its fifth generation of growers, harvesters, and roasters.
In an open-letter to the Lights fanbase, Bautista says he will look to build upon the team's success of this past season, after calling 2024 a year of firsts.
While there's no word yet on whether Bautista will re-enter the baseball world as a coach or Front Office executive, his longtime friend and teammate Edwin Encarnacion is currently a special advisor to the Blue Jays. So Joey Bats has an in if we wants.
From the sounds of it though, he doesn't need the help.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 18 | 191 ANSWERS Joey Bats keeps on winning Should Jose Bautista be the next GM? | ||
| Yes | 121 | 63.4 % |
| No | 70 | 36.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
