Justin Upton gives out fake trade hugs, hits clutch home run as Padres' quest to troll us all continues

Upton gives trade fake-out, hits clutch HR for Padres

By Chris Landers

July 30, 2015

Not content to give the entire baseball world just one non-waiver Trade Deadline head fake, Justin Upton and the Padres were back at it again on Thursday. But this time, rather than being pulled from the game, Upton decided to confound the #HugWatch movement completely -- giving out fake pre-trade hugs to his teammates in the dugout, just for kicks:

Upton hugs

"That was funny," Upton told MLB.com's Joe Trezza after the game. "I told [Pat] Murphy before the game that I was going to come in and hug everybody at some point. He came in and hugged me first so I just carried it on out. That's what happens when people like to tweet everything!"

Is nothing sacred anymore? Can we no longer rely on the mid-game hug to bring order to the Trade Deadline chaos?

It appears not even Mother Nature can save us from this bleak new world, despite her best efforts. With two outs in the top of the ninth, the Padres trailed the Mets, 7-5, when some heavy rain forced a brief delay at Citi Field. But lo, when the weather lifted, Upton was ready to strike, blasting a three-run home run to give San Diego the lead:

Upton home run

But the madness was far from over: After the end of the half-inning, there was another rain delay. And apparently, even the Mets grounds crew was flustered by Upton, who -- if his trolling hot streak is any indication -- was probably controlling the tarp with his mind:

Mets tarp