Melvin Emanuel " B. They are the only two brothers in MLB history to be selected in the No. The Upton brothers are also the first brothers to both hit 20 home runs and steal 20 bases in a season.
Yvonne worked as a teacher and Melvin worked variously as a scout for the Kansas City Royals , a mortgage broker and a college basketball referee in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference after playing both college football and basketball at Norfolk State. As a member of the 18U United States national baseball team , Upton batted. The team went 9β2 and finished in second place in the Pan American Baseball Confederation in the qualifying for the World Junior Baseball Championship.
He signed a letter of intent to play college baseball at Florida State. He was widely considered a very polished prospect able to hit for both power and average. Upton was ranked as the 21 prospect in baseball before the season by Baseball America , and as the 2 prospect a year later in In , Upton committed 56 errors, leading the minor leagues.
He made his major league debut on August 2, , less than three weeks before his 20th birthday, becoming the youngest Ray ever and the youngest player in the major leagues in In that game against the Boston Red Sox , he went 1-for-3 with a walk, with his hit being a seventh-inning single. His younger brother, Justin , was taken with the top overall choice of the Major League Baseball draft , making them the highest-drafted siblings of all time.
In , Upton emerged from spring training as the Rays' starting second baseman. On June 8, Upton was forced to leave a game against the Florida Marlins early due to a strained left quadriceps. Before the injury, he was batting. Starting 48 games at second base in , he committed 12 errors, fifth in the league for the year. In , he had 24 home runs, and was 22 out of 30 in stolen base attempts. During the season, Upton was twice disciplined by Rays manager Joe Maddon for lack of hustle.
