'Bossman Junior' Upton takes place among baseball's best BJsForget Benjamin Roy Armstrong, Robert Victor Ryan, Jr., and William James Surhoff.
For that matter, forget Billy Joe Thomas and Billie Joe and the Bear, too.
That's because in the history of grown men who go by "B.J." none have ever had the initials stand for a cooler name than B.J. Upton, the Tampa Bay Rays center fielder.
While it's true his given name is "Melvin Emmanuel" (which would probably put him at the bottom of the above list), it's starting to become a well-known fact that the B.J. is actually short for "Bossman Junior."
Since Upton is having a star-making postseason — though 15+ games he is hitting .292/.338/.662 with 7 HRs, 16 RBI and 6 SBs, all while playing a hustle-enhanced center field — you might be wondering why he just doesn't ditch his initials and go with "Bossman" for the coolest nickname since Earvin became Magic. After all, he's earned it.
But because he's a junior, that means there has to be a senior.
And as anyone who's familiar with the Upton family can tell you, B.J.'s father, Manny, is the one and only true Bossman in town. (No, this isn't a picture of him.)
Manny Upton (who's also the dad of Arizona's Justin Upton) was a good ballplayer in his own right and received the nickname from his own father. Though one of his college coaches once suggested that Manny name his first son "Bossman Junior," the future Rays' star had to settle for it being an unofficial and abbreviated tite once he showed up on Earth in 1984.
No doubt it beats Melvin Emmanuel, though.
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