Thursday, May 5, 2011

BJ Upton's Golden Sombrero

A golden sombrero is awarded to a player who manages to strike out four times in a single game (real golden sombrero not included). It's quite the feat unless you're Ryan Howard or Mark Reynolds. Unfortunately, no-hitters and Brian Wilson's beard are all the rage nowadays. Not for me, though. I will pour over the box scores to bring you the finest at swinging and missing.

What a difference a day made for Bossman Junior. Less than 24 hours after a walk-off home run followed by the celebratory chocolate and whip cream pie to the face, Upton picked up the Golden Sombrero in a rather spectacular fashion. He got rung up looking thrice and was none too happy about it. He had to be physically restrained from umpire Chad Fairchild who ejected Upton in the ninth as well as Jay's manager John Farrell in the seventh. Joe West also took part, ejecting Rays manager Joe Maddon in the seventh. I think somebody got into the tequila a little early yesterday.

Let's see what drew the ire of the elder Upton...

Bottom 2nd: Upton struck out swinging against Brandon Morrow. 3 pitches. It's not like his day got off to a great start.

Bottom 4th: Upton struck out looking against Morrow. This was a called strike on a 3-2 count.

Bottom 6th: Upton struck out looking against Morrow again. Another called strike but on a 1-2 count.

Bottom 9th: Upton struck out looking against Frank Francisco. He took all three strikes looking but this is the one that set him off. He was tossed and threw everything he could get his hands on while making his exit. Personally, I'd like to see more of that after a good Golden Sombrero.

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