After the first pitch he ever saw as an Atlanta Brave — a change-up for a strike from Cole Hamels in the first inning of opening night — Justin Upton was greeted by chants of “Up-ton, Up-ton” from a sold-out Turner Field crowd.
One pitch, one chant. Such is the buzz around the Braves, who opened the 2013 season with a roster rebuilt on Upton brothers, Justin and B.J.
“That’s an awesome feeling when you’re new to a place and the fans are behind you,” Justin Upton said.
For the first brother duo ever to be drafted No. 1 and No. 2 overall (Justin by Arizona in 2005, B.J. by Tampa in 2002) and set to make $113 million combined over the next five seasons in Atlanta (through 2015 for Justin), much is expected.
Justin got started on the giving-back in return, depositing a home run ball about a dozen rows up in left center field for his first home run as a Brave. He had struck out in his initial at-bat in the first inning but homered in his third, a pivotal solo home run in a 7-5 win over the Phillies.
“It’s a great start, I’ll tell you that,” Justin Upton said. “Being able to contribute to the first win of the season my first game here, it’s a great feeling. Hopefully we can just keep going out and playing good baseball.”
The Phillies had just closed to within 4-3 in the top of the fifth inning when Upton caught up with an 89-mph fastball from Hamels on the inner half of the plate in the bottom of the fifth. It might not have been quite as majestic as some of the towering shots he hit in spring training, but it was on a mission: Leave the park quickly.
His parents, Manny and Yvonne Upton, were among the 51,456 fans on their feet, standing and cheering in the second row of the SunTrust seats behind home plate. As much as they loved seeing the home run, they were also just glad to be in the ballpark to see both sons play on opening day.
In past years, they’d had to alternate between Justin and B.J. And this year, it was B.J.’s turn.
“It makes life easier,” Yvonne Upton said, who is spending the week in a hotel near both her sons’ Midtown apartments. “It was tough, going from one place to the other. And it wasn’t just one place to the other. It was like from one side of the country to the other.”
For his part, B.J. Upton normally would have to finish up a game on the East Coast just to try to catch the end of Justin’s game on the West Coast on TV in order to see him hit a home run.
“Sitting here watching it live, it doesn’t get any better than that,” B.J. Upton said. “He’s here with me and that’s pretty cool to see.”
Justin finished the night 1-for-4. B.J. was admittedly overexcited at the plate on the way to an 0-for-4 night. He saw only 10 pitches in the four at-bats.
“I was a little too amped up,” B.J. Upton said. “You get crowds in spring training, but actually getting out there in front of your home crowd and feeling their vibe and feeling their energy got me amped up a little bit. Now that it’s out of the way, I can just relax and go play baseball.”
On Monday, he could just relax and poke a little fun at his younger brother’s expense in the locker next to his. Justin had drawn a crowd of reporters to ask about his home run and it had spilled over into B.J.’s.
“He hit a homer,” B.J. quipped. “It’s OK. He’s going to hit a couple more.”
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