How good is Justin Upton?

by Jim McLennan on Aug 2, 2009 4:25 PM EDT in News Comment 19 comments

More photos » David Zalubowski - AP

Just another extra-base hit from our 21-year old prodigy.

He's currently on pace for a 30/.300/100 season - hitting thirty homers, batting .300 and driving in a hundred runs. That's something which has only been done seven times by a player his age (or younger) in baseball history. Here's the list, along with the honors those players went on to accumulate:

Player	Year	HR	BA	RBI	Age	Team	Honors
Albert Pujols	2001	37	.329	130	21	STL	8-time All-Star, 2 MVP
Alex Rodriguez	1996	36	.358	123	20	SEA	12-time All-Star, 3 MVP
Eddie Mathews	1953	47	.302	135	21	MLN	9-time All-Star, HOF
Ted Williams	1939	31	.327	145	20	BOS	17-time All-Star, 3 MVP, HOF
Hal Trosky	1934	35	.330	142	21	CLE
Mel Ott	1929	42	.328	151	20	NYG	11-time All-Star, HOF
Jimmie Foxx	1929	33	.354	118	21	PHA	9-time All-Star, 3 MVP, HOF

Yeah, that's right. On average, those players have gone on to appear in ten All-Star games [and it'd have been more for Ott and Foxx, had the game been about when they started], win an MVP award, and 80% of them make it into Cooperstown when they retire. Trosky is a curious exception. He was never higher than 10th in the MVP voting, even in 1936 when he hit .343 with 42 homers, 162 RBI and an OPS of 1.026 [some guy no-one has ever heard of, called "Lou Gehrig", won it that season...]. However, his career was cut short by a combination of migraine issues and World War II, and he only played 312 games after his age-27 season in 1940.

Let's hope Upton's career follows one of the other paths, and I am not saying he is a Cooperstown lock. But it's an astonishing list which he might join, and we should absorb this season with the sense of potential history unfolding that it deserves. Imagine being able to tell your kids that you saw Ted Williams develop into his prime. That is the kind of potential Upton is showing us this season. Enjoy it, folks...

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so refreshing to read some sane perspective on upton after hearing a chorus of whining over the past two weeks. thanks jim.

"Say this much for big league baseball - it is beyond question the greatest conversation piece ever invented in America."
-- Bruce Catton

by njjohn on Aug 2, 2009 7:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

There's

been a chorus of whining the past two weeks?

You are both wrong, for I, SOCO, am the BIG Anime Fan!!

by soco on Aug 2, 2009 8:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It’s been a real bitch to get the harmonies working right.

"The conflict is representative of the Darwinian struggle between avians and mammals for dominance."
"Based on Bugs giving Daffy Duck a cigar made out of dynamite?"

by kishi on Aug 2, 2009 9:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

you kidding soco, or have you not been following the fanpost banter?

"Say this much for big league baseball - it is beyond question the greatest conversation piece ever invented in America."
-- Bruce Catton

by njjohn on Aug 2, 2009 9:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I haven't

had time to keep up with all the posts, especially the fanposts. I guess it hasn’t filtered to the game recaps yet?

You are both wrong, for I, SOCO, am the BIG Anime Fan!!

by soco on Aug 3, 2009 1:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

slacker

"If there's nothing wrong with me, maybe there's something wrong with the universe!"

by unnamedDBacksfan on Aug 3, 2009 2:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Man

I wish I could check this site amongst others during work.

You are both wrong, for I, SOCO, am the BIG Anime Fan!!

by soco on Aug 3, 2009 2:36 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

check this out… but several other fanposts degenerated into the same debate.

"Say this much for big league baseball - it is beyond question the greatest conversation piece ever invented in America."
-- Bruce Catton

by njjohn on Aug 3, 2009 5:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh yeah

I couldn’t get past the headline on that one, so I never even clicked it.

You are both wrong, for I, SOCO, am the BIG Anime Fan!!

by soco on Aug 3, 2009 9:24 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah cuz you have to like everything upton does just because he can hit ?

baseball is about offense and defense my friend. Upton only has one of them down and until he gets the 2nd one he is going to receive criticism from some of us and not a pair of puckered lips for his asshole.

I laugh until my head comes off.

by edbigghead on Aug 4, 2009 1:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs