A man of many names

His birth certificate reads "Justin Irvin Upton," but it is rare that he is called by his true name. Like most cult heroes, Upton has many nicknames and aliases. Today I am going to break them down by naming the top 5 most popular. If anybody thinks I missed any or disagrees, let me know.

1. J-Up. This is the most well-known of his nicknames, and it originated while he was still in high school and a draft prospect. Just a combination of his first and last names, similar to A-Rod and Han-Ram (Alex Rodriguez and Hanley Ramirez).

2. TJU. This nickname was created by ESPN baseball analyst Keith Law. It stands for "The Justin Upton." It's meant to be a reference to his greatness, similar to "The Ohio State University" and "The king of England" etc.

3. Black Jesus. This name was created sometime between the '08 and '09 season, but it is uncertain who, exactly, was the culprit. This name was more of a collaboration by his followers. The reasoning behind the nickname is that, he is seen by many as a "Messiah" (of sorts).

4. Franchise. This name is a reference to the fact that Justin is the face of the Diamondbacks franchise and figures to be so for quite some time. This nickname has been around since he was drafted in '05.

5. Uptown. This nickname originated in '08. It is a reference to a song that talks about"Uptown Girls" and also him hitting the ball "out of town."


Those were the top 5 nicknames, and now, here are some things that have been named in his honor.

1. "Upton's porch."- At Chase Field, Justin's home park, there are two porches/overhangs, in center field. Because many of his home runs are hit onto the porches, some people have renamed these porches in his honor. This name is unofficial, but well-known amongst his followers.

2. "Uptown Girls"- This is a nickname that Justin's groupies and female followers refer to themselves as.