Maddon benches Upton for lack of hustle; Bartlett back as DH

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Manager Joe Maddon benched CF B.J. Upton on Wednesday, saying he was upset with Upton's lack of hustle in running out his groundout to the pitcher in the eighth inning of Tuesday's game. Maddon said it'll be a one-day thing, and Upton could be used late in the game if need be.

But considering Maddon recently held a team meeting in Kansas City, when he, for the first time in his three-year reign, ripped the Rays for their lack of hustle  - he felt a point had to be made.

"When it comes down to individual effort, it takes absolultely zero talent – zero, zero talent to try hard or play hard every day," Maddon said. "I'm OK with physical mistakes. We talked about the mental mistakes, I want them to cut down and we have cut down on them a lot. I'm accepting of all that. The part I’m not accepting of is the part you can control, which is your effort."

Maddon had praised Upton Tuesday night for his spectacular running catch in the sixth inning, which came with the bases loaded and two outs.

"You just can't pick and choose when you're going to put your effort out there," Maddon said. "It has to be there all the time."

Upton said he agreed with Maddon; "I didn’t run it out - but It's over, done with, you move on. Learned a lesson.”

*In other pre-game news, SS Jason Bartlett is back in the lineup, albeit at designated hitter.

Bartlett, who suffered a bruised right index finger on a failed bunt attempt Sunday, played catch again pre-game and could be back at shortstop on the upcoming road trip. When asked if Bartlett would return to short Thursday, Maddon said, "I don't know."

*LF Carl Crawford said his sore left hamstring feels a lot better, and he'll be ready to go at "full speed' Thursday in Seattle.

*Maddon said OF Rocco Baldelli is pretty much ready to be activated, but the other injuries the Rays have had to deal with are impacting when he'll come back. Baldelli will travel with the Rays on their upcoming road trip.

Rays

Iwamura, 2b

Zobrist, cf

Pena, 1b

Longoria, 3b

Navarro, c

Aybar, ss

Bartlett, dh

Hinske, lf

Gross, rf

- JOE SMITH

joesmith@sptimes.com

(Pictured - B.J. Upton, Jason Bartlett. Times photos - Dirk Shadd, James Borchuck. Click to enlarge.)

Comments

[mike]

Serves Upton right. Show some respect to your team and the game. Stop behaving like Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes. Obviusly they rubbed off on you. Start showing some hustle BJ.

[theFaz]

Why does't someone just ask Upton how he feels? I never hear him complain about the turf, or his hamstrings, or what position he plays. He just keeps getting on base and stealing bases like it is easy. I wish crybaby CC would learn from BJ

[Really???]

Hahahahahahahaha!!!! You guys are a bunch of idiots! I have never seen a group of people who know so little about baseball, run their mouths like they have been scouting the game for decades. I bet all of you detractors listen to the Big "DUI" Dog, don't you?

As stupid as Frankie is, at least he doesn't hide his blatant racisim. "Upton is lazy." "CC is a bum." "That Zobrist sure is scrappy." "I can't wait for Rocco to get back in CF where he belongs." Funny how it's the black guys you see as lazy, but the white guys try so hard. You're all a bunch of clowns. You guys bash Edwin Jackson and in the same breath want to make Sonny our ace. Why? Because he has a few more wins? Shows your baseball knowledge.

Where have all of you, obviously well educated folks, been the last few years while this team was struggling? I promise all of you, whoever we would get back in a trade for Upton or Crawford or whoever would do the same "lazy" things that these guys do. You just wouldn't notice if they were white.

[jeff]

that was a scary game tone

[Tim]

And one more thing while we are talking..
All you Percival haters.. The guy has 24/27 saves.. And before his last " Blown save " he had 15 in a row.. One more thing for you to chew on.. He has not lose a game all season which means we have converted all 3 blown saves into wins.. To me a blown save is when the team loses.. the 3 times he has not kept a lead could be seen as "no decision"...

[Tim]

I guess we saw again today.. It ain't over till it's over.. with all the negative vibes they are producing in this blog, one thing is sure.. They don't give up... not to jinx them but the "magic number" just went to 46... GO RAYS !!

[phantom01]

The important thing to remember is that as much as we love them all for their amazing skills they are still employees of the Tampa Bay Rays. We are all employees or have been employees at one time or another. What would you expect if your boss made it crystal clear "no gray areas" what he expected you to do in certain situations and you, for whatever reason whether good or bad, chose not to do what your boss told you to do? In our world that's insubordination. In the sports world it's something less costly but a price should still be paid for a bad choice. Kudos to BJ for owning up and taking personal responsibility for his bad choice. In the business world it is all about the customer. Don't ever forget we are the customer and we have a right to expect to hear and watch the best product that the Tampa Bay Rays can put on the field for each and every play. The truly great players play all nine innings, all 48 minutes or all 4 quarters just as hard each and every play. That's all Joe and the management team are looking for. I love the Rays. Rays fan since I moved here in 2000.

[Amanda]

Upton is not a bad player. He's a good player. What frustrates me (and I think a lot of Rays fans) is that he has the potential to be a GREAT player. Like Rays Mike said, he's only 23, and sometimes his immaturity gets the best of him. I have very little doubt that he won't grow out of this. For you hockey fans, remember Lecavalier when he was a snot-nosed kid? Look at him now.
I think we all need to have some patience with Upton. I'm not saying don't be hard on him, since that's the only way he'll learn. I'm just saying it's way too early to write him off. He's already worlds away from the punk he was (due to the company he held, probably) in Durham. It won't take much longer.

Bradley,

That was Elijah Dukes that said that. Of course I'm sure that doesn't make any difference to you.

[Bradley Mofsky]

Ah for that privladge of Sewage water Showers in Durham......Get Real BJ Upton!

[MikeH]

Don't look now, but I suspect that Mr. Maddon is the most under rated manager in baseball. Good job, coach!

[Dom]

BJ thinks he owns center field. Why run out of the box? With no competition for his position, he's gotten cocky. Bring Ruggiano up and that will stop the nonsense.

[Rays Mike]

Everbody keeps forgetting that BJ is 23.. It's only his second full season. There is still way too much potential with him to give up on him so early. There are only 29 other teams that would take him in about 2 seconds. If he is still playing half-speed at 28, then he will be gone.

Fly-
Jeez, did my comment really offend you that much? Calm down there, Champ!
And for your answer, try paying attention to things that are said in the media. Names might not always be used, but sometimes it's pretty obvious.

[Mike]

Maddon did the right thing. I'm an Upton fan, even more so after hearing him say that Maddon was correct in the benching. Move on!....and keep winning!

[Larry]

The Rays need BJ's athletic skills, not his athletic kills, i.e. attitude. I admire BJ for "manning up" and admitting his shortcomings. Let's move on. Great win today - good TEAM effort!

[Andy]

I went to Spring Training Camp, where Upton reported early, prior to Hinske, Crawford, Gomes, Aybar, Zobrist, Pena, and many others.

And if you are looking for 'hustle' in batting practice, I would seriously question whether or not you have actually attended BP before if you are going to claim to see players giving 100% in that relaxed environment. Nobody dives for balls, or even RUNS TO FIRST in batting practice.

Quick question, and be honest?
When is the last time you attended Rays BP? I Agree with Maddon's decision today, but think you are just making things up.

[Jim]

B.J. and Crawford seem to run in step.

I think Carl gives negative vibes to the team.

Is Carls nose bent because he wasn't selected to the All Star game? Or is he concerned about Rocco?

Are his pants getting baggier to emulate Manny?

I watched Carl in his first game, and I was convinced that he had all the tools.

Now he needs to get his head together.

RAYS! RAYS! RAYS! MOVE OVER, yuckees AND red sux, THERE'S A NEW BEAST OF THE EAST: THE SOON-TO-BE 2008 AL EAST CHAMPION TAMPA BAY RAYS!

oh, yeah, and build that stadium on the waterfront!

[Mudman]

Got to credit Maddon, dicipline is necessary in management- congrats to the team for the great win. I grew up an Indians fan, but it was nice to give the Indians something to remember until next year Go Rays Bartlett is the glue on this team

[CJ]

Shut up fools, what a game

[Mike]

Just thinking ... with the Rays still in first place in the AL East, in front of those Sox and Yanx, and Favre maybe coming to the Bucs, and Melrose and the new look Lightning coming up sooner than we all realize ... will ESPN just up and move to Tampa Bay to keep an eye on all their darlings? We could be a mini-nexus of the sports universe if the Rays go to the playoffs and Favre comes to town.

I don't know how I feel about it all. Mayberry may be growing up.

[Matt]

This team will win the World Series. I picked them before the season started and wins like this just reinforce the momentum. As I wrote in a March column, RAYS BEAT SWEET LOU IN SIX

[Brian]

BJ = Poor Man's Manny Ramirez...except without the offensive production.

[Brian]

Wow, after reading some of the comments on this thread, it sure looks like Joe Maddon knows what he's doing after all and a lot of people are eating crow!

[T]

I guess they don't need a lazy guy in the lineup anyway. They sure scored enough.

Most people don't realize that if BJ wasn't so lazy, he'd be starting at SS. He just doesn't work. If you ever go to Spring Training practice or BP, he never tries. I wish they coulda gotten Jason Bay and got rid of BJ because he is the weak link right now

The team was warned heavily by Maddon during the last KC away series (prompted by Aki's lollygagging a grounder). This warning was also made public by Maddon the day after. I saw the grounder in question, and BJ did slack off. He does this ALOT. In fact, you could say BJ believes his fantastic plays (like the 6th inning super catch) gives him goodwill to slack off when he wants, which is bullcrud! Bottom line, the dude is an all-star, from the neck down.

[Joe Maddon]

Probably the worst blog I have ever read. You people don't know baseball at all, and it seems now that the Rays are successful under me, you guys pick on me because the dog has started to bite you when you kick him - there's no logic behind your attacks. I'm managing a small payroll team to first place in the division with the highest payrolls, all the while dealing with whinny superstars like Crawford and Upton and a fan base that thinks they know everything that goes on in a clubhouse. You guys don't know the half of what I deal with with these players. Have you ever read a Phil Jackson book about a season with the Lakers or the Bulls - public perception and reality are so far apart when it comes to sports. Just support the team and shut up, or kick the dog again.

mike: 6 run 9th inning capped off by Pena walkoff HR

[Ray F]

pena wins it with a 3run hr.

[sevenyearhawk]

Mister Loaf ... you're on in FIVE!!

[mike]

at work, what happened?

[Ray F]

W is a W.

[Ray F]

Percy actually gets a win!

[Mike]

Percy is soooo lucky!! I guess it's the outcome that matters. Go freakin' RAYS

RAYS WIN!

[hodesworthe]

TIE GAME NO OUTS. NICE.

[Ray F]

Percy owes Gabe Gross $10.

[dick]

I just looked at Kamzir's stats and they are indeed alarming. He has started (not sure if todays game is included or not) 17 games and pitched 99 2/3 innings. That means he is averaging 5.1 innings per start!!! Yikes!! He is averaging a tad over a strikeout (110) per inning and given up 41 walks.. His ERA is 2.89 which is damned good but the extra workload he places on the bullpen is going to show up sooner or later.

[Ray F]

So we get one back... if Percy stays his raggedy @-- on the bench, we only need 1.

Humbug... never good enough.

[Ray F]

I can't remember who said it earlier, but why didn't we plunk Peralta today???!!!??? The scummer beats the crap out of us for 3 days... then he goes 5 for 5 today?!?!? He needed a slider that "got away" from Kaz.

That's baseball.

[Ray F]

I needed a WP last night to win Rays Bingo on old fogie night.

Thanks a lot Percy.

I thought Hammel was our mop-up guy.

[Mike]

SHOCK! Percy gave up a run!

[Ray F]

so Percy is the new mop-up guy?

[john]

I think the Ray's pitching staff is worn down.
Just had a last place team batter the hell out of them

[dick]

For Darkmane--absolutely have given him credit for making the occasional great catch and the key hit he got the other night. Check back on the blogs..However, I also have maintained and said that Upton is not the player HE thinks he is. He does not hustle and will struggle to hit much over .260 in this league. The ONLY reason his OBP is decent is due to walks, not hits! He is unproductive at the plate for a hitter batting 2nd as he strikes out way too much and cannot bunt. Would I have thrown him in that possible deal for either Nady or Bay--without hesitation. Speaking of game saving catches--did you happend to see shields glare at him when he failed to make two routine plays?

[Carnac the Magnificent]

After the game, Aybar will be sent down and Rocco will be recalled from the DL. That will allow plenty of time for the next home game to sell out for Rocco's homecoming.

Get your David Price jerseys ready too.

Carnac has spoken.

[Ray F]

come on... bloop and a blast baby.

[Darkmane]

By the way, Dick, you also give B.J. good mouth when he's doing stuff like making game saving catches and getting on base 38% of the time, right?

[Darkmane]

Dick, watch those cliches, you may cut yourself.