Rant and Rave:
Baseball
by Jeff Lewis

Rant—The defense of B.J. Upton during the AAA All-Star Game—Upton is Tampa Bay’s top prospect—the 2nd overall pick in the 2002 draft, with 45 major league games under his belt—but has already made 31 errors in 90 games for the Durham Bulls.  During the AAA All-Star Game, he put his skills on display.  Here are the plays that I saw him make:

1. His first touch was a slow, high-hopper with a man on first.  He chose not to charge it, and had to make an awkward catch.  He probably still had time to turn a double play, but his feed to the second baseman was an underhand scoop about two inches off the ground.  They got the out at second, so there was no error on the play.

2. His next touch was a routine groundball that he dropped when trying to transfer the ball to his throwing hand.

3. With a man on first, he fielded a ball next to the bag, ran to the bag and then threw to first for an easy double play.  Not bad.

4. After a single to left, the left fielder tossed the ball back to Upton.  Even though the ball was only about fifteen feet in the air, Upton lost the ball in the lights and crouched down, as if someone had just yelled “Fore.”  The ball rolled past him, but the runner didn’t advance.

5. The final fielding chance that I saw was a hard hit grounder into the hole.  He gloved it, but threw it into the stands.