Medoza Report

Justin Upton has struck out 30 times in his last 76 at bats, if I remember the tweet correctly. BJ and Heyward mis-communicate again in right-centerfield. Jason goes after the ball to prevent a triple. BJ stands there in the way, blocking his view of the diamond and almost getting hit in the head by Heyward's throw. Same thing happened in the Wednesday game when the wild pitch caromed over to the on deck circle. BJ hopped out of the way of the ball, then just stood there as the pitcher rushed by. Once again BJ almost got hit in the head as the pitcher threw he ball to third. Those in the know report how hard-working these Upton brothers are. They take part in team celebrations and are animated in the dugout, but still their results can be frustrating to me.

Watching them is very similar to watching young African-American players at East Cobb baseball. Lots of athletic ability that sometimes looks out of place on the baseball field. The Uptons played travel ball growing up. Wonder if they started later (12?) than some of their teammates who started years earlier (6 or 7). Both can hit, but BJ looks much more at ease in the field than Justin. But BJ has more rough edges than a Michael Bourne, Kenny Lofton, Curtis Granderson, or Juan Pierre. Are these observations politically incorrect?

See Don Sutton's first pitch BOUNCE to the plate? Last night he was looking older than his 68 years. Nice that the Dodgers honored him so. Has a twenty year old daughter.

After all the articles that have been written about Evan Gattis, as usual Sports Illustrated finds a way to report new information. Every previous article and interview hadn't dug as deeply and left out gaps, never telling the entire story. I was always wanting to learn more about his interest in "spirituality" (or maybe I didn't). Seemed like his whole spiritual journey ended on an anticlimactic note. Made me wonder what type church or Bible teacher would be the best to introduce Gattis to God from the spiritual perspective – and what places would not be good. You can tell from the length of Gattis' beard that the bear photo, taken at Turner Field before his teammates arrived, was taken back in late April or early May.

Co-worker Dialysis asked about the MLB draft, and we got to talking about Loganville's Clint Frazier, who went 5th in the first round. When I showed Dialysis his photo in Sports Illustrated, he said "I know him. He used to play football with my son." He also knows Frazier's coach at Loganville.