Justin Upton is a five-tool player with phenom written all over him. Then why isn’t he as popular as Augie Ojeda? (Photo: Marcia Blake)

In sports and in life, the underdog is impossible not to root for. The underdog is never the biggest, fastest, or strongest. They have to work harder and have to be mentally tougher. The underdog’s path is paved not in gold, but in roadblocks. The sports fans of Arizona relate and seem to relish being the underdog. This lower class feeling is perpetuated because our teams are almost always viewed as the underdog by the national media, whether it’s warranted or not. A prime example of this was the 2001 D-Backs team. The team was loaded – Johnson, Schilling, Gonzalez, Williams, Finley, Grace, and Reggie Sanders. Yeah, Reggie Sanders, he went for 33HR and 90RBI that year…I know I was surprised too. In that group are a couple of Hall of Famers, and All-Stars many times over. Maybe it’s just me, but that group of players does not equate to underdog status. However, they were playing the most storied franchise in all of sports, in the Yankees. I never thought though that the D-backs were the underdog and they dominated that series except for 3 heartwrenching (Dictionary.com has it as all one word, I think it looks weird too) innings in New York. Public perception is everything, and the perception is they pulled off a great upset in what many consider one of the greatest modern day World Series. The back end of that statement I happen to agree with.

That great D-Backs team was loaded with stars and superior talent; however, if you ask people, who their favorite player was from that team? I bet Craig Counsell would get more votes than most. It should be noted he did have a terrific post season, but Counsell was probably the 10th or 11th best player on that team. Why then is he so beloved? Is it because Craig Counsell looks like he’s perpetually 19? Is it because he’s not 6?10? with a 100mph fast ball? Is it because he seems like a normal dude with average skills? Well simply, “yes” and because of this, he embodies all the qualities we like to have in an underdog. The fan wants someone he or she can relate to, the “everyday” man or woman. So, now you have Counsell, a popular underdog figure on a perceived underdog team, and all in the 2001 World Series, an Arizona fan’s dream scenario. Underdog stories are heartwarming (again that looks weird), but it got me thinking. Have we Arizona fans fallen too much in love with the lovable underdog? Is the city’s underdog mentality a threat to run future superstar talent out of town?

Let’s examine a superstar in the making, Justin Upton. I would have thought that by now he would easily be a widespread fan favorite. He’s an impressive physical specimen, that has speed, power, and a cannon for an arm. What scouts call a five-tool player. He’s come up though the D-Backs’ system right out of high school, so he has always been a D-Back. For whatever reason, it seems the fans are slow to warm to him and it doesn’t seem to make sense. This guy should have a Ken Griffey Jr. type buzz about him and people are still lukewarm (huh, that’s one word too) on him. Why? He didn’t pay his dues in the minors and was rushed to the major leagues? He’s not living up to expectations? Is it jealousy? Let’s face facts, most of us were in school or working some crap job at the age of 21, and he’s hitting. 300 in The Bigs. Or is it, we just cannot get behind someone we feel was born with unbelievable skill and is completely aware of it?

The youngster has recently taken some criticism for “showing up” opponents on the field. Two weeks ago, he hit two mammoth blasts in Florida that totaled almost 950 feet and got accused of “watching” or “admiring” his work. If any of you watch True Blood, the vampires would call it “glamoring the pitcher”. This past weekend he caught flack for “flipping” his bat after a walk. This irked the Braves bench and a seldom-used backup catcher. I perused local comments on various local websites (I had to leave Fanster.com…for research purposes only) and I was shocked at many of the responses. You would have thought that Justin Upton committed heinous crimes against humanity for his actions. People calling him a, “punk” and displaying, “Barry Bonds type behavior”. Comments like, “I’d rather have a team full of Augie Ojedas and Craig Counsells than this guy!” What? Really? A bat flip and watching two balls sail 450+ feet, is now being a punk or acting like Barry Bonds? I don’t get this one at all. I have dreams of being able to hit a ball that far, and if I could, I would absolutely watch that sucker fly out. As far as his “Barry Bonds behavior”, well that’s just absurd. By all accounts he’s well-liked by he’s teammates. When Bonds was Upton’s age, he wasn’t even liked by his teammates at ASU! Finally, you’d rather have a team full of guys that hit .260 with 4HR’s and 42 RBI’s? Those are best case scenario Augie and Craig years by the way. You’d like to have team that goes 12-150? That’s what would happen if you had a team full of hustle players. I go back to the 2001 D-Backs team, a team that is revered in Arizona history, but they had pampered, moody, egocentric superstars in Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, and to a lesser extent Matt Williams, but nobody says word one about it. Why? Simple…because they won. Winning cures all.

Does Upton have some cockiness? Absolutely. Is he going to make some mistakes? Absolutely. I like the fact that he’s confident and a little cocky. I like the fact he’s pissed off about not getting to hit and “flipping” the bat away. He wants to win and now he’s showing signs of wanting to be “the man”, and that is not a bad thing. In a game that even the elite players fail 65-70% of the time, I think you need some arrogance and cockiness, or the game will swallow you whole. I love the underdog. The scrappy-dirt-worker guys. The guys that would cut off a limb to play just one more game. I really believe every team needs a guy like that. However, not an entire team of them. In the end, I’ll take a team full of Justin Uptons and you can have your team full of Tanner Boyle types and we’ll see who wins the series.