What Do Al Kaline and Justin Upton Have In Common?

We’re back again, with a totally contrived creative and enlightening statistical comparison between Justin Upton and the greats of baseball past.

This has quickly become a regular feature, partly because Justin Upton is just that kind of prodigious talent and partly because my friends at Fox Sports Arizona can’t seem to stop coming up with this stuff. I call Daron Sutton and Mark Grace my friends because they come right into my Mom’s basement to tell me about every Arizona Diamondbacks game with insightful commentary and infectious enthusiasm.

At any rate, the complete list of all players to hit 5 HR in their team’s first 11 games of a season before the age of 21:

Al Kaline, 1955

Miguel Cabrera, 2004

Justin Upton, 2008

Good on ya, J-Up! Throw some lumber around, young man.

Bonus coverage: Let's not forget the awesomeness of Miguel Cabrera, who was recently traded to Kaline's Tigers:



"Okay, we've been traded to Detroit. Now, D-Train, I'm your friend, I'm only going to say this once. I've got a lot of friends in Detroit - Ordonez, Guillen. When we get there, it's really important that you...how do I put this? That you stop the sucking."

What Do Jimmy Sheckard and Justin Upton Have In Common?

Before going 0-4 today, Justin Upton had homered in 3 straight games, making him just the 4th 20-year-old ever to accomplish the feat.



The complete list:

Jimmy Sheckard, 1898, Brooklyn

Mel Ott, 1929, New York Giants

Willie Mays, 1951, New York Giants

Justin Upton, 2008, Arizona

Mel Ott did it twice. Upton will be 20 until late August.