Why B.J. Upton's wife wanted him to ditch 'Melvin'
For years, MLB veteran Melvin Upton Jr. was known to baseball fans as B.J. Upton.
It was an ode to his father’s nickname Bossman, making him Bossman Jr.
Then around four years ago he ditched the name, opting instead to go with his birth name Melvin, which is also his father’s given name.
Back to B.J.
On Tuesday, the 34-year-old free agent, who’s been out of MLB since 2016, decided it was time to switch back to B.J.
And he said it was his wife’s call.
“You know what, it’s my wife, man,” Upton told MLB Network’s “Hot Stove.” “She said Melvin doesn’t sound right on TV, and she wants me to go back to B.J. And everybody knows, happy wife, happy life. So we’re official. It’s cool.”
TV career in the works for Upton?
Upton didn’t sound interested in pursuing a comeback, but he did hint at why he’s going public with the name change in the context of what his wife thinks sounds “right on TV.”
Upton has made appearances on MLB Network and sounds like he wants to pursue a broadcast career.
“Yeah man. It’s fun,” Upton said of being on TV. “It keeps me involved with the game. I still know a lot of guys that are playing. It’s something I’m definitely looking forward to.”
If that’s the case, then Upton made the right call. No disrespect to his father, but Melvin just doesn’t have that TV-cool vibe to it.
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