Upton pulled from game

B.J. Upton was benched one game by manager Joe Maddon earlier this month for a lack of hustle. Friday night, Maddon pulled Upton off the field at the start of the bottom of the sixth inning apparently for the same reason

Getting pulled off the field is a major embarassment for just about any major-leaguer, and Upton certainly looked upset when he came into the dugout, walked toward Maddon and then went up the tunnel to the clubhouse.

Upton didn't run hard in the first inning when he was forced at second, and again in the top of the sixth when he hit into a double play. Justin Ruggiano replaced Upton. And with two outs in the sixth, Ruggiano charged in and couldn't catch Ian Kinsler's line drive, the ball glancing off his glove and scored a hit, ruining Matt Garza's no-hit bid.

Comments

[jeff]

GET MADdon JOE!

Somethings up. Drug test all these bloggers!!!

[Jim]

I've been telling y'all for weeks that somethin' was up with B.J. and Crawford.

Carl didn't get to go to the All Star game and Longorio did. So Carl's bent out of shape and Upton's sympathizing for him.

Man, would I like to be a fly on the wall in that locker room!

B.J. needs inspiration?? How about watching Floyd motoring around the bases on bad knees?

Upton has all the talents from the head down. Hope he gets his head together.

Jim

[Ken]

Remember when B.J. use to dive for the baseball the first part of the year. He does not do that anymore. He has more balls go over his head than any other out fielder. His at bats are pathetic. He should be a .300 hitter. I wish we could D.H. FOR HIM. When someone is in scoring position he gets outs. When no one is on base he gets hits. Either his shoulder is injured or he is doing this deliberately. First half of the year he use to throw the ball to the wrong base or always tried to throw out the runner. I think they got on him so much he throws it to the cut off man all the time. I think he is so immature and cannot take criticism or coaching.

I think a big issue with him is his salary, $412,000. Hey B.J. you signed that contract. If you bust your butt this year, you will never have to play for that kind of money again. You can either get a big contract next time or start over with a future team with low end money. Matt Silverman, go give him 300k extra this year if he agrees to hustle. Pathetic.

[Not the Marlboro Man]

MAddon is trying to wake him up don't read too much into this. Upton is young and full of himself, nobody would even want him right now if they could trade him. What's he been batting since the Allstar break...a buck-15 or lower. When he decides to make a difference he usually can, but its his attitude and conceit that's helping him to destroy himself. Maddon will only put up with so much before you see him go...and at this point I'm not so sure B.J. wants to be here anyway.

[Carl]

One more thing . . . the Yankees are DONE from winning the division. If the Rays play one game UNDER .500 the rest of the way, the Yankees still need to play .750 ball to tie them and neither scenario is likely. The Red Sox are another issue but the odds are in favor of the Rays. I would say the Rays are going to play .525 ball the rest of the way. For Boston to catch them, they will need to play .625 ball, which is tough for any team, even the Red Sox. GO RAYS!

[Carl]

Tony - I disagree. CC hasn't earned the right to do anything halfway or to bemoan his lot in life nor has he earned the benefit of the doubt. Floyd is a veteran and he hustles. In my opinion, as a veteran it is even more important for him to set a better example.

And as for knowledge of the problems artificial causes one's knees, having had surgery on both of mine makes me acutely aware of these challenges.

CC is an athlete. He is going to have physical problems. In fact, I think part of his sub-par performance this year is more than likely due to some type of lingering pain or injury. He needs to get treatment if this is the case. But when he isn't injured, he still makes rock stupid mistakes at the plate and on the field. CC routinely shines the spotlight on himself when he complains about positioning and he does this often enough to be a distraction.

I agree with you insofar as Upton needs to shut up and do his job, but I would add Crawford, who is now probably done for the season, should have done the same. Go Rays!

[Tony]

Manny Ramirez can hit a fastball...that's it. He can't field that well. His lack of hustle is demonstrative, in fact he runs faster with his homerun "trot".

Upton has more all around talent than Ramirez. He's just a prima donna that needs to be put in his place, "shut up and do your job".

CC has been around long enough to be called a "veteran". For those of you who don't know, artifical turf causes hell on your legs, especially your knees. There are many other players that have the same problem and there are stadiums that have worse fields than the Trop. Minnesota comes to mind. Dont't try and compare CC to Upton. If anything CC has EARNED the benefit of the doubt. Upton has earned enough to put his uniform on.

[Carl]

Are we all just jaded a little bit?

We see players like Bartlett, Gomes (until recently), Hinske, Gross, Longoria, Floyd, Baldelli (now), Pena, Navarro, Zobrist, Riggans and the entire pitching staff except Kazmir (another head case . . . more on this later) working their NARDS off on every play for what seems to be a love of the game or certainly a determination to succeed and excel.

Then we also see players with a ton of talent like Upton and Crawford who seem to pick and choose when they exert effort or they make poor choices on execution which cancels out a great deal of their effectiveness.

I know I get excited about the hustle and get drained from the lack thereof.

On Crawford, I thought I was one of the only people on the planet who thinks he is not nearly as good as his press clippings. I felt the timing of his sore legs was oddly coincidental with the crap Manny Ramirez pulled in Boston. He routinely moans about his position in the field and in the batting order and I have NEVER seen him throw out a runner at the plate or at any other base for this matter yet all I hear is "premier defensive outfielder." Crawford, sadly, couldn't carry Manny's jock (for the record, I am not a fan of Manny).

Kazmir is a head case and should be kept away from the newspapers, pre and post-press run. How can a team's "ace" say 100+ games into the season he is almost where he needs to be physically and mentally? By his standard, he should be ready to go by mid-November. Furthermore, he had no problem pointing fingers during the team's losing streak. Shut up, stay in shape in the off-season and come in to work ready to play. If any of us said to our employers 6 months into the fiscal year we were almost ready to perform at 100%, we would be fired.

I am at a loss to explain BJ Upton. Isn't it ironic he is second in the league for stolen bases and runs down balls in CF as well as anyone has yet gets criticized for lack of hustle?

Did they all read their press cliipings too much and think they could mail in their performances?

I am thrilled with the team and can take the nonsense from these three simply because of the play of the others is so exciting. GO RAYS!

PS: Thanks to JeffC for pointing out disagreeing with someone else's viewpoint doesn't make them an idiot.

[James]

It all boils down to BJ worrying about his stats and himself. The Rays have a special season going, and everyone else on the team is thrilled to be a part of it. He just doesnt like that he is not getting any attention, like Longoria, or Pena. Well maybe if he did routine things like try to run out infield hits, like Aki has done several times. What twice in one game this road trip alone. I think Uptons average would be at least 10 points higher if he maybe tried to bunt for hits here and there, or again, RUN OUT THE PLAY!!!!

[Brad M]

His mind is not on his game,as it should be.

[Brad M]

Maybe BJ Upton,was sincere-he really wasen't paying attention and he thought there were 3 outs.He needs to pay better attention,Maybe he just has ADHD and he can't help himself.the rays should know this about him.

[JS]

You BJ defenders keep acting like he only doesn't hustle when it doesn't matter. You evidently don't remember Garza's last start...that crazy game in Seattle. Top of the 6th and BJ doubles with two outs and then CC doubles also but the out fielder nearly guns down CC as 2nd...it really looked like the ump blew the call because the tag was there. But either way, BJ was only halfway to home because he was jogging when they made the play at 2nd. Think about that a second, CC takes a swing, gets out of the box and slides into 2nd and BJ was still trotting home from 2nd. If they get that call right the rally ends right there and we are 2 runs short because he won't run hard. No extra inning heroics, just a lame loss because someone won't listen. The Seattle broadcasters ripped BJ hard for that, but I never read much about it afterwards. After being benched a game for not running hard, that was unforgivable. Maddon will take care of it.

[hustlin flow]

The problem is Maddon has made it his main point from the start that he expects his team to hustle. He isn't going to just pick on Upton for no reason. He has no incentive to do that. Upton is good. He isn't as good as last year, but he's still good. This has everything to do with Upton showing up his manager. That's probably why Maddon let him head out to center before he pulled him. He was giving Upton what Upton has been giving him. No respect.

[Hawkeye]

Why are people complaining that taking Upton out caused a possible no-hitter to go bye-bye when Hamilton got a legit hit later on in the game.

Joe's doing it the right way, you hustle no matter what or you don't play. If Floyd can go from 1st to Home 2 times in one game, Upton can bust it out to 1st 4 times a game. That's not asking for too much.

[Mike]

A few good entries but Shawn's post at 12:27 hit it out of the park. This kid's (Upton) offense is horrendous. His present swing only allows contact to the right side. Last year he pulled the ball often and strode into the ball. This year it seems he is all stiff and swinging with his arms instead of his body. His strikeout ratio is a deep concern and his lack of hustle is also a concern. The athletic difference between Upton and Young is a no contest and Young wins in every category. Attitude, prior to this year, Upton wins easily--however, that was last year. Unless this kid turns things around by himself or through Floyd, etc., I cannot imagine Management keeping him around next year. We all know that "calm and positive" Joe Maddon goes overboard with his praise, especially last year with the crap he had and it takes a LOT to piss him off but---he IS pissed!

[Shawn]

For all you guys out there trying to defend B.J. by using his OBP...yeah he draws a lot of walks, but not without a price. You may notice he tends to strikeout looking a lot...of his 105 K's (sixth in the AL), 41% are of the looking variety. To put this in perspective, The next closest (of the regulars) is Hinske (34%, 67 K's), Navarro (32%, 41 K's), Pena (25%, 119 K's), Longoria (24%, 102 K's), Crawford (18%, 60 K's), and Aki (16%, 95 K's)...so basically his "magical" OBP is really aided by the fact that he's taking his easygoing demeanor to the plate with him and laying off anything even remotely borderline. And not much else kills momentum and rallies wrose than an inning ending strikout looking...

[Willy Aybar]

And I don't know how many outs there are. So this means I'm making the game all about me?

[Gary Jordan]

We dont know to touch 2nd on the way back to first
We dont know to run fast to first after being benched for not running fast to first. We are trying to win the division and its all about BJ.
BJ Upton is flunking the IQ test big time!!!!
Lose the tude moron!!!

[homer]

awesome comments everyone! BJ has a lot thing in common with dukes, young, gary sheffield, barry bonds and all the other malcontents! i think mitch and the others on here would agree that their problem is laziness, just like guys like garza, pedro martinez and dioner navarro have problems with excessive emotion! we need more fundamentally sound players like aki, hideo nomo or hee seop choi (why did we ever let that fundamentally sound player go??) to complement a core of hustling gamers with spunk and pizzazz like jonny gomes and bubba trammel!

[vabeachgirl]

I'm pretty much a horrible racist, and demand for Upton to be traded for someone is more white.

[George]

The Rays won 7-0 at the Rangers' house tonight, btw. Garza was lights out. Aybar and Pena continue on a tear. 6-2 on this 10-game road trip. Angels lost today against the freaking Indians, Yankees struggle against KC at home.

Enjoy.

[vabeachgirl]

If you only knew. Bj doesn't want to be in St Pete, his parents don't want him there (they go to games; ask them sometime). They have bigger plans for Bj + Justin. Why have you not figured this out yet?

[Jason]

Also, Young is an amazing talent that is starting to light it up for the twins. Don't expect to get anything in return for upton if we try and trade him. Since even putting Upton up for trade means we are desperate.

Plus look at our OF, it would cripple the team.

[Jason]

So Mitch. What did Upton do today, that other team members were not doing all day? I'm just wondering why you are singling Upton out, especially since he is one of our most talented players.

[Mitch]

An absolute punk.

Limited game. Unlimited trouble.

He'll get shipped out like Young and Dukes, so as not to contaminate quality talent like Longoria.

[Jason]

Seriously, Upton was doing no less then anyone else out there.

[Woo]

Congrats

[Awkward]

This is not going to end well for anybody... Upton is going to pout for being "singled out." Maddon will have to lay down rules for everyone about running things out. The camaraderie will fissile. CC will fake another injury to avoid the pressure. But my girlfriend is really hot. We've been dating for two weeks, and she just showed me her boobies yesterday.

[Smart]

Yea that's a great idea trade BJ to the Yankees for a player who is worse than him. Excellent Idea!

[Jason]

BJ Trade, you must be on of the new Rays fans, who was a yankee fan a few years ago. That is the dumbest comment I have seen on this board, and there are alot of dumb comments.

[Jason]

Maddon was out of line with his call to pull upton today. He might have cost Garza a no hitter by putting an inferior player in the outfield.

[BJ trade]

Off-season trade with Yanks: BJ for Cabrera + one of Yanks' young arms.

[swammie]

Oh Ryan the great can read peoples minds. BJ wants out of Tampa and he's jealous of others contracts because he ran at 80% on a routine rounder.

[Ryan]

Why did Maddon have him batting cleanup at the beginning of the year if all he was supposed to do is get walks, play a good CF, and steal some bases. If we wanted that, why didn't we just keep Gathright around? Admit it, he is not producing at the plate like he should be. Sophomore slump, what a joke. He just doesn't give a crap. He wants out of Tampa for whatever reason. Probably b/c he sees other people get paid and not him. Good riddance.

[JeffC]

So why run AT ALL? If a ball is hit for a sure out, why don't players just stand at home and watch the out get recorder?

[Jeff]

I guess I'm just missing where running out a groundout is going to improve his SLG%, or make him great vs. good.. i'll admit it pisses off the traditionalists.. but has little impact on the game.. what does impact the game is him getting on base and covering more ground in the OF. drawing a walk isn't lazy.

[JeffC]

Philip - I've said this before. The Rays need to combine Gomes heart and passion with BJ's skill set.

JJ Gupton - helluva player!

[JeffC]

Meanwhile, what a nice road trip the Rays are putting together!!

[Philip]

At least Gomes hustles.

[STP]

JeffC - He's a top 20 positional player in the AL right now, and I'll admit if he gave it his all he'd jump like 2 spots.

[Jeff]

so if he gave 100% he would hit more HR's? His OPS is 50points higher than CC's. I suppose if he gave 100% it would be 100points higher... and probably have 25 more stolen bases than CC instead of just 11 more.

[JeffC]

Can we all agree that Upton is a good player who doesn't give it 100% all the time? He's aso a potentially great player if he gives 100% all the time.

[STP]

Dear Ryan,

Getting on base is almost twice as important as a good slugging percentage. Furthermore, nearly every player sees a dip in SLG percentage in their sopmhmore year(Fun Fact: Go check Bonds/Griffey/Sosa in their second season). He plays top 5 CF D in nearly every measure, I can handle a few not run out GBs.

Signed, Someone who isn't dumb.

[Yes]

"At this point he's only good for walks, stolen bases, and the occasional fantastic play in CF"

Oh my trade that bump, I do not want some one who gets on base, steals bases and makes fantastic plays in CF. Give me Hinske in CF. He'll let 10000 balls drop in front of him, but he'll break a sweat doing it.

[Ryan]

Here they come...the Upton apologists. I know Justin is on the DL right now...Justin is that you "Jeff" or "STP"????

Upton's On Base Percentage (.379) is almost higher than his Slugging Percentage (.387). What an embarrasment. And to think he was our cleanup hitter at the beginning of the year. At this point he's only good for walks, stolen bases, and the occasional fantastic play in CF, which makes it all the more frustrating to watch him knowing just how good he could be if he gave 100%...

[YO]

You guys are right CC shouldn't be lumped in with Upton because BJ Upton doesn't complain about everything like Carl does. Don't bat me leadoff, Don't make me bunt, Don't move me 100 to my left, I want to DH more at home.

Your standards for a #2 hitter are quite small then, I usually look for someone who draws walks and gets on base.

[JAS]

I think Crawford is good #2 hitter

What our lineup should be:

Aki
Upton
Longo
Pena
Rocco
Navi
CC
Hinske
Barty