Rays centerfielder B.J. Upton got booed last night — in his home park. That can’t feel good. After being benched twice in the last few weeks by manager Joe Maddon for lack of hustle, Upton made a baserunning error that looked really, really bad:
He hit a sharp shot to right, then hung around the batter’s box admiring the flight of the ball, thinking it was a homerun. Then he ambled down the first base line when he realized it would stay in the park. An easy double. He jogged around first and coasted toward second base. The Angels first baseman followed behind him, took the throw from the outfield and tagged Upton just before he touched second.
Upton looked shocked. He’d been tricked. Worse, it was not a good time to appear lazy on the baseball diamond. He hung his head. All this scrutiny, he had to be thinking, I just don’t need this.
Thing is, I don’t see Upton as lazy. At least not in this case. 99 times out of a hundred, that hit turns into an easy double. The first baseman doesn’t shadow you down the line and tag you.
This article appears in Aug 13-19, 2008.