LAKE BUENA VISTA., Fla. — Jonny Gomes and Melvin Upton Jr. were teammates for all or parts of six seasons in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, and now have adjoining lockers in the Braves clubhouse at ESPN Wide World of Sports.
It’s the same stadium where the two were Southern League All-Stars for the Double-A Orlando Rays in 2003. Melvin went by B.J. in baseball back then (and did until this week, for that matter).
“You play this game long enough, things are going to start circling around — we’re teammates again, but different uniforms,” Gomes said after reporting to spring training with his new team Wednesday. He smiled and added, “It’s actually funny, we used to call him Melvin to get under his skin. So I was thinking if he goes to his birthname, maybe I’ll go by one of my nicknames and we’ll just do a complete swap like that.”
Gomes and Upton were teammates at the major league level for all or parts of four seasons including 2008, when Upton had seven home runs in the first 10 postseason games to help the Rays win a division series against the White Sox and American League Championship Series over the Red Sox.
The previous year 2007, Upton had his finest regular season, setting career-bests in average (.300), home runs (24), RBIs (82), OBP (.386) and slugging percentage (.508) at age 22. All of those remain career highs.
“Last time we were teammates they were handing out a bunch of trophies, back in 2008,” Gomes said. “The guy had a heck of a postseason run. Heck of a year. So that’s how I remember B.J. as a teammate. Obviously things haven’t really gone that way the past couple of years, but transition is tough. I’ve seen a lot of guys struggle with transition.
“We’re just going to (get below) the surface. I want him on my team. I’m happy to be here. B.J.’s the center fielder. He’s had a bad couple of years, but you can’t hide that talent. I’m excited to be next to him now (in the clubhouse) and next to him in the outfield.”
