B.J. Upton Hits For The Cycle; First Time In Rays Franchise History
by Tommy Rancel on Oct 2, 2009 9:51 PM EDT
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PrintOn the day when Bob Nightengale of USA Today said other MLB teams were scouting B.J. Upton because they believe the Rays will look to trade him in the offseason, Upton put on a show for everyone watching. Upton seems unaffected by the talks and made a history by becoming the first Rays player in franchise history to hit for the cycle.
I'm sure teams are scouting Upton, and I'm sure the Rays will listen to offers as they should, but selling low on Upton seems highly unlikely. Unlike Carl Crawford, Upton has three years left of team control and even though he is set for arbitration this offseason after the past two years his raise isn't likely to be that big of a deal.
But back to the cycle...
Upton has flirted with the cycle in the past, but has come short each time. Several Rays this season including Upton, Jason Bartlett, and more recently Reid Brignac have come close to the cycle, but each have fallen a hit short. On this night Upton would not be denied.
With CC Sabathia going for win #20, Upton greeted him with a bases clearing triple to put the Rays up 4-0 in the first inning. In the third inning, Upton would hit a double off the base of the wall and later score on a Fernando Perez single. The Rays chased Sabathia after allowing nine runs (five earned) in just 2.2 innings, but that didn't stop Bossman Junior. In his third at-bat of the night, Upton would smash a two run shot off of Jonathan Albaladejo to put the Rays up 11-1 and leave himself a single shy of the elusive cycle in just the fourth inning.
Upton would waste no time and in the next inning he lined a two strike curveball into right field for a single to complete the cycle. At the time of the cycle, Upton had six RBI through five innings. 2009 may have been a disappointment for Upton, but it's nights like tonight that give us hope for his future.
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BLACK JESUS
2009 Rays Baseball: Welp.....we'll try again in 2010
2009 FSU Football: The most inconsistent team in the country
Be a TRUE Seminole: http://www.seminoles.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/071509aab.html
Good job BJ!!!
Can’t wait till we trade him and he lights it up, then all of these old farts in the area will realize how stupid they actually are.
They'd just say that he was just like the other two amigos and was waiting for his payday so he could get out of Dodge.
I’m pretty sure the only way he’ll ever get them to stop is to tell the representatives of the mainstream media who propagate those options to blow it out their collective asses.
I can't wait until we trade him for a reliever.
Don't they already realize how stupid they are
when they watch our crappy NFL team and realize they were in favor of it all back in January?
like i said
Change of stance!
Swav or Die (>'-')> <('-')> <('-'<)
For the lulz
by SRQman on Oct 2, 2009 10:36 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
What's different today?
J.J LOVE SPREADS while RAHEEM MORRIS'S PLAN FOR NFLDOMINECION IS COMING TO AN END.
His foot gets down earlier now too.
Tools Whore
hey all ye haters STFD
I’ve said this before and I’ll keep saying it, BJ Upton needs to be one of the centerpieces of this franchise. He is an amazing person and pretty darn good ballplayer. He is one of the nicest people I have ever had the pleasure to meet in my 23 years on this earth and is one heck of a ballplayer who puts 120% into the game he plays and has ever since his days of playing SS in the minors. Yes he has been struggling but if the city of Tampa would give this kid a chance and rally behind him instead of trying to rush him out of town they would realize they have a great man to put along side of Evan Longoria as the faces of the franchise.
Jennings, Hellickson, Davis, Brignac, Beckham, Moore > Your top 3
I may not live in the area anymore
but I still know most of the support/redicule/etc…. comes from Tampa even though the team technically plays in St. Pete
Jennings, Hellickson, Davis, Brignac, Beckham, Moore > Your top 3
"Most" seems to imply more than 50%
That is simply not true. 47% of the season ticket holders are Pinellas residents; 25% are from Hillsborough, according to this link . The St. Pete Times has a much larger circulation than the Tampa Tribune, as well.
His value is pretty much wrapped up in defense at this point, and as we've seen with Bartlett, it isn't difficult to hit a wall when you are a very good defender.
If we get a good offensive season along with the same defense next year then sign him to a 4 year deal (I wouldn’t go much longer). Who knows if he will accept being in Tampa, if he will have any regard for our budget concerns, or if a suitable offer comes along.
I don’t want to trade him, but unless we see some offense (I know, I know, he was injured, but its been ongoing for two years now. He should have just repaired that labrum earlier last year when he had a chance) then I just don’t see it being feasible.
Yeah....this season was not a failure at all
Upton, you were low on the totum pole…..thank you for doing something right this year
"Doesn't Manny Ramirez look like the monster from Predator??" - Will Farrell as Harry Carey
The good news is that his OPS probably won't fall .110 points for the third straight season in 2010
Vroom vroom party starter
www.raysprospects.com
Where the hell were you?
It was great, Sabathia throwing his glove into the dugout after he was pulled being denied #20 was precious
BJ looked like it was ALCS all over again
Oh I didn't see Sabathia get pissed (Too busy celebrating)
So awesome on so many levels. Price looked great and giving some to Teix was awesome.
Swav or Die (>'-')> <('-')> <('-'<)
For the lulz
Quit your bitchery Margot
Get well soon DM
by Sandy Kazmir on Oct 3, 2009 10:03 AM EDT up reply actions
I did even worse
I watched the first 4 innings, and when it officially became a blowout, I flipped off the game. That was right after Upton’s HR not realizing he was a single short of the cycle. Stupid me.
I can't wait until we trade him for a reliever.
I've been reading some Hemingway short stories of late and that particular one I thought was
amazing
Get well soon DM
A great night at the ball park.
I am not sure if I ever attended a game when someone hit for the cycle, but I sure was glad it was Upton tonight. And every hit was a hard line drive-no bloops or seeing eye hits. Actually, the only one that seemed as if it might be caught was the triple that just eluded Cano’s glove and then got under a diving Swisher to roll to the wall.
By the way, Upton also made a nice running catch early in the game. I thought Price looked pretty good too. There were a few hard line drives, but he had an inning or two when he gave up only grounders and he struck out Posada on a beautiful 3-2 curve and A-Rod on 2 consecutive change-ups. He seemed to use all his pitches and mixed them up well. This may be totally speculative, but it seemed to me that after the hit that drove in the run, Price seemed to get angry or focused and bore down very hard. To that point the gun was clocking his fastball at 89; after that he threw a series of 94-96 mph fastballs for an inning or two before easing off later in the game to the low 90 range.
And let’s not forget that Kapler walk in the first inning when the Rays got the bases loaded and then 2 outs, seemingly on the verge of squandering a big chance when Kapler walked. The count started 3-0 and then 2 close calls for strikes and finally what seemed from my angle to be a very similar pitch that became ball 4. So at least one run would score, and then Upton cleared the bases.
This was the last game in our season ticket package, and it was a very satisfying way to conclude.
Awesome!
Maybe I’m just an old fashioned BJ suck-off-er. (Good call Sandy)
by Lurch's Lobbyists on Oct 3, 2009 6:28 AM EDT reply actions
I called the sweep against my friend who is a huge Yankee fan
it would be great to conclude the season sweeping these jerks. I hope them and Boston lose in the first round
"Doesn't Manny Ramirez look like the monster from Predator??" - Will Farrell as Harry Carey
One disadvantage of being at the ball park
is that there is no automatic replay.
Did anyone see the infield single that Perez beat out? When he hit it, I followed the ball, hoping it would sneak through the infield. But Jeter got to it and made a strong throw to first. When I looked towards 1B, Perez was about a step or two away from the bag and beat the throw easily. I could not believe it; that last step or two he looked like a streak! But how the hell did he get down the line that fast? (He later beat out a double play ball that I thought would be routine.) Am I exaggerating?
You're not exaggerating.
He was batting lefty, so was able to bust down the line the second he hit the ball. Even so, there are maybe 5 players in the league who turn that into a hit.
Your eyes did not deceive
He is electric out the box, especially as a lefty. Jennings looks to be the same based on the AAA Championship
Follow Me on Twitter @FreeZorilla
BJ
It was great to see BJ hit for the cycle. Hell, it was great just to see him hitting with confidence and making solid contact consistently. Posting as a fan that had been reprimanded a couple of times regarding Upton, I would like to clear up what I think is behind the misperception that his effort is lacking.
I think some fans get frustrated with BJ because they perceive a lack of effort or intensity. I personally don’t think it is a lack of effort on BJ’s part. I think that he is a very instinctual player that reacts to what he thinks is going to happen on the field. For example, while a play is developing, like a ball he hits weakly to the 2nd baseman, he assumes he will be easily thrown out and doesn’t seem to run particularly hard on that type of play. Most of the time he is right, but if the ball is bobbled and he could have made it safely, his decision is glaring. This happened when he was tagged out by Tex running to second last year. I have seen some runners take second base on a ball that should have been a single, but he was slow to get the ball in. I think he cares very much about his play. I just think that sometimes he needs to assume less, and that is a fixable issue. I think he has a great future hopefully with the Rays organization, and could easily be a perennial all-star.
Gary Williams for President!
Put Rose in the Hall of Fame
The increase in attendance alone is worthy of consideration
the ghost of stokes, camp, lugo strikes TB-sept 2009
by CubFanRaysaddict on Oct 6, 2009 12:59 AM EDT up reply actions
Amusing.
B.J. went from 2.1 WAR last night to 2.5 WAR today.
by R.J. Anderson on Oct 3, 2009 4:43 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
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