Jose made baseball fun to watch in those terrible softball jersey days and really put baseball back on the map in this country. I remember his 54 home run season, my friend had those Toronto Star pass tickets so we saw a lot of his home runs that season. I used to go down to spring training with my Dad and Jose used to always sign and meet fans before and after the games which was really nice.
Before the days of Jose and EE no one was going to games, now you look on TV and you see people with their whole family flying in for a holiday in the summer from all over the country just to watch a baseball game, that would have never happened before Jose came around, sure Halladay was a gem to watch and would bring in more fans on his starts but Jose was the one that changed Toronto from a hockey town back into somewhat of a baseball town.
I will never forget the Game 5 batflip moment, my buddy and I were at the game and once it left the bat the place exploded and the entire dome was shaking it was insane. We left that game and just partied on King street with other fans and the whole downtown was packed that night, it was amazing.
I will be at the last home game of the season to see Jose ride off into the sunset. Father time waits for no one and as much as it sucks that Jose is done as a Blue Jay, the future looks bright for this organization down the road so that will be fun to watch down the road as well.