B.J. and Justin Upton first made baseball history together when they become the first brother duo ever to be selected first and second overall in the baseball's amateur draft. In 2002, B.J. was drafted No. 2 by the Tampa Bay Rays. Three years later, younger brother Justin went No. 1 to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Incredibly and ironically, the brothers would make a little more history together on Friday night, each connecting for solo home runs about one hour apart to give their teams 1-0 leads.
That's not historic you say?
Well, you're right. What is historic, however, is that the home runs were the 100th of their respective careers, making them the sixth brother duo to achieve that milestone according to Elias, and without question the first to do it on the exact same night.
Historic, yes, and also pretty darn neat. I think Rays manager Joe Maddon would agree that assessment.
''Congratulations to the Family Upton,'' Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. ''That's an incredible feat. Mom and Dad have to be really proud tonight. The brothers have to feel great about it, but just think about being the parents at that moment. That's pretty neat.''
Justin Upton reached the century mark first, connecting off Philadelphia Phillies hurler Kyle Kendrick in the second inning of Arizona's 4-2 victory.
''I definitely wanted to beat him to it,'' Justin Upton said. ''It really felt good. I'm happy for him. It's a big night for the family.''
About 44 minutes later, B.J. Upton caught up to his brother and reached triple digits himself with a fourth inning blast off Baltimore Orioles starter Tommy Hunter, which was Matt Moore and the Rays bullpen needed in their 2-0 win.
"I was just texting (Justin),'' B.J. Upton said. ''He said he got his before mine. It's cool to do that on the same day. It's one home run, but I'm glad it happened.''
Digging a little further into the numbers, this is the 13th time the brothers have homered on the same day. In fact, both hit their 99th career home runs on July 20, setting the stage for Friday's milestones. Also, back on May 4, 2011, the Uptons both hit game-winning home runs on the same night, which further cements the crazy symmetry of their careers up to this point.
By the way, in case you're wondering, the other six brother combos to reach 100 home runs are Sandy and Roberto Alomar, Clete and Ken Boyer, Bret and Aaron Boone, Joe and Vince DiMaggio and Bob and Irish Muesel.
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