D-backs’ Upton on hot streak since being given a day off
Jun 1, 2011, 9:59 PM | Updated: 10:10 pm
In the middle of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ successful road trip, manager Kirk Gibson decided to give his right fielder a day off.
Sometimes that’s all one needs.
It has seemed to work out quite well for Justin Upton.
He is 8-for-12 with two home runs and four RBI since being given that day off in Houston on May 28. In this hot streak he has had a stretch of six straight at-bats with a hit, becoming the ninth D-backs player to accomplish the feat. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the club record is seven straight hits.
Gibson said he and hitting coach Don Baylor pulled Upton into the manager’s office because they could tell he was carrying “the world on his shoulders on that road trip.”
Gibson understands the high expectations everyone has for Upton but, “I don’t know that he’ll ever live up to everybody’s—what everybody thinks he should be.”
Gibson’s advice to Upton and others is to enjoy the game.
“I’d say just go, have a good attitude, play the game, have fun, be a good teammate, respect the game; and then history will define you when you’re done.”
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