B. J. Upton

Melvin Emanuel "B.J." Upton Jr. (born August 21, 1984), is an American former professional baseball center fielder.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays / Rays, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, and Toronto Blue Jays.

Upton has played with his brother, Justin Upton, as members of the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres.

They are the only two brothers in MLB history to be selected in the No. 1 and 2 slots of the draft (in separate years).

The Upton brothers are also the first brothers to both hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in a season.

Upton was born to Melvin and Yvonne (née Gordon) Upton.

Yvonne worked as a teacher and Melvin worked variously as a scout for the Kansas City Royals, a mortgage broker and a college basketball referee in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference after playing both college football and basketball at Norfolk State.

Before high school, Upton played on the same travel baseball team as several other MLB players, including Mark Reynolds, David Wright, and Ryan Zimmerman.

Upton is a graduate of Greenbrier Christian Academy, in Chesapeake, Virginia.

As a member of the 18U United States national baseball team, Upton batted .462 (12-for-26) in nine games.

The team went 9–2 and finished in second place in the Pan American Baseball Confederation in the qualifying for the 2002 World Junior Baseball Championship.

In 2002, Upton was named a first-team All-American by Baseball America, batting .641 (50-for-78) with 11 doubles, four triples, 11 home runs, and 32 RBI during his senior year at Greenbrier.

For his entire high school career, he hit .633 with 13 home runs, 51 RBI, 44 runs and 43 stolen bases in 47 attempts.

He signed a letter of intent to play college baseball at Florida State.

Upton was drafted second overall as a shortstop in the 2002 Major League Baseball draft by Tampa Bay out of Greenbrier Christian Academy.

He was widely considered a very polished prospect able to hit for both power and average.

Upton was ranked as the #21 prospect in baseball before the 2003 season by Baseball America, and as the #2 prospect a year later in 2004.

In 2003, Upton committed 56 errors, leading the minor leagues.

In both 2004 and 2005, Upton was the starting shortstop in the All-Star Futures Game.

He made his major league debut on August 2, 2004, becoming the youngest Ray ever and the youngest player in the major leagues in 2004.

In that game against the Boston Red Sox, he went 1-for-3 with a walk, with his hit being a seventh-inning single.

In 2004, he started 16 games at shortstop, 11 at third base, and one in left field.

His younger brother, Justin, was taken with the top overall choice of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft, making them the highest-drafted siblings of all time.

He spent the 2005 season with the Rays' Triple-A affiliate the Durham Bulls, appearing in 139 games.

He returned to the major leagues in 2006, starting 48 games, all at third base.

In 2007, Upton emerged from spring training as the Rays' starting second baseman.

On June 8, Upton was forced to leave a game against the Florida Marlins early due to a strained left quadriceps.

The injury forced him out of action until July 13.

Before the injury, he was batting .320/.396/.545 with nine home runs.

Starting 48 games at second base in 2007, he committed 12 errors, fifth in the league for the year.

Although he played mostly second base until the injury, Upton became the team's starting center fielder upon returning.

In 2007, he had 24 home runs, and was 22 out of 30 in stolen base attempts.

He was one of only 6 batters in the AL to have at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases, along with Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Ian Kinsler, Grady Sizemore, and Curtis Granderson.

During the 2008 season, Upton was twice disciplined by Rays manager Joe Maddon for lack of hustle.

On August 6, Upton was held out of the lineup for failing to run out a ground ball the night before.

On August 15, Upton was benched in the sixth inning for not running out a double play ball.

He was replaced by Justin Ruggiano.

A few days later, Upton hit a ball to left field that bounced off the wall.

From the crack of the bat, Upton reacted to it as a home run, dropping the bat and casually jogging down the first base line.

He then tried to stretch it into a double and was thrown out by the left fielder.