My Top Five Baseball Families
Hey baseball fans!
Matt Nadel here with another dose of baseball history. In today’s post, I will be telling you all who I think are the top five families in baseball history. (Note that I originally posted this for Big Leagues Magazine, a really great online magazine that I write for. Hope you check it out.)
Number Five-The Ripkens: Why? Cal Ripken Sr. and Cal Ripken Jr. basically represent the Orioles in the ‘80s. You may think that Cal Jr. was the only Ripken great, but Cal Sr. was involved in the O’s organization for 36 years and managed Baltimore in the 1987 season. In that season, Cal Jr. and Billy Ripken played in Baltimore. Billy Ripken wasn’t a superstar like is brother, but I think we can all agree that Cal Ripken Jr. deserves to be in the Hall.
Number Four-The DiMaggios: Why? Vince wasn’t really the best baseball player, but Dom and Joe both were consistently good ballplayers for the Red Sox and Yankees, respectively. Dom went to seven All Star games, while Joe went to 13. Joe is in the Baseball Hall of Fame but, sadly, Dom isn’t. However, he is in the Red Sox Hall of Fame. All in all, the DiMaggio parents should be proud of how successful their three sons were at playing the game they loved, baseball.
Number Three-The Bondses: Why? Bobby was a great ballplayer in the sixties and seventies, while his son, Barry, dominated the nineties and two thousands. They have a combined 1,094 homers, the most homers between a father and son. The only reason they aren’t number one is because Barry took steroids. Steroid use is not tolerated with me, and it is definitely not tolerated with the BBWAA.
Number Two-The Griffeys: Why? Ken Griffey Jr. and Ken Griffey Sr. were both big helpers in some teams’ successes. Griffey Sr. helped the Reds to two consecutive World Series titles, while his son helped the Mariners become an AL powerhouse in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Also, the Griffeys are the only father-son combo to hit back-to-back home runs. Now, that is what I call “like father, like son”.
NUMBER ONE-THE WANERS: Why? Little Poison and Big Poison, Lloyd and Paul, are both in the Hall of Fame. They both contributed to the Pirates of the ‘20s and ‘30s and they were both hitting machines. It’s funny how they played together on the Pirates and not the Phillies. Why do I say that? I say that because the Phillies play in the "City of Brotherly Love."
Well, that’s my top five families in baseball history. There are some honorable mentions, though. The Alous, Felipe, Jesus, and Matty, were once the family dynasty in San Francisco, while the Delahantys, Ed, Frank, Jim, Joe and Tom, were great ballplayers during the Dead Ball Era. Anyway, do you agree with my list? Leave me a comment and tell me your list of top five baseball families of all time. Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoyed this post about "all the buzz on what wuzz".
BART FRAENKEL
6:48 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Matt, how about the Dean brothers or the Perry's? Both brothers were very good pitchers, or is your list just for offensive stats? :)
Matt Nadel's Baseball with Matt (a kid blogger's baseball history blog)
7:28 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
In those cases, one person of the family picked up most of the slack.
paul smith
8:57 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
You can add the Delahanty brothers (all 5 of 'em), Honus and Butts Wagner, as well as the Mathewson Bros, who won 373 games between them (though Christy won all 373!)
WhitingBoy
7:53 am on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Along this line, you then have to mention Maddux bros. Combined nearly 400 wins and nearly 4,000 Ks (and a great ERA)....Mark may have contributed less than Greg.
Mr. Boondoggle
12:40 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Well in the Ripken case, only one member was good, Billy and the father weren't particularly memorable at all. And Dom Dimaggio wasn;t exaclty great.
Richard Cuicchi
8:09 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
my vote for Top Five is the Hairston Family. Sam Hairston played in the Negro Leagues and one season in the Majors. Sam had three sons, two of whom played in the Majors (Jerry, Sr. and Johnny); Sam's third son, Sam Jr. played in the minors. Jerry Sr. has two sons in the Majors currently (Scott and Jerry Jr.). Jerry, Sr.'s third son, Justin, was drafted professionally. Johnny had three sons (John, Jr., Jeff, and Jason) who were drafted professionally, with Jeff and Jason playing in the minors. Check out the book, Family Ties: A Comprehensive Collection of Facts and Trivia About Baseball's Relatives, for more details about the extensive family relationships in baseball.
Matt Nadel's Baseball with Matt (a kid blogger's baseball history blog)
7:23 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Interesting picks
Pete Heinbaugh
10:55 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Good topic and good list, Matt.
I'm glad to see that you included the Alou's. They could all hit line drives i their sleep. Remember, there was also Moises, Felipe's son.
Two other families worth mentioning because they produced three generations of players -
The Boone's: Grandpop Ray; Pop Bob; Sons Aaron and Brett.
The Bell's: Grandpop Gus; Pop Buddy; Sons David and Mike.
Matt Nadel's Baseball with Matt (a kid blogger's baseball history blog)
7:29 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
That's pretty interesting.
Pete Heinbaugh
11:05 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Trivia question: Which brother combination has the most HRs?
Answer (sort of a trick question): The Aarons (768); Hank (755), and Tommie (13)
Matt Nadel's Baseball with Matt (a kid blogger's baseball history blog)
7:44 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Interesting. Kind of like the Giambis and the Cansecos
John
7:35 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
'Steroid use is not tolerated with me, and it is definitely not tolerated with the BBWAA.'
But cocaine users, alcohol abusers and womanizers are fair game?
'But baseball writers will abide a drug user. Paul Molitor had used cocaine, but they voted him into the Hall of Fame in 2004. They'll abide an alcoholic. Dennis Eckersley was a recovering alcoholic, but they voted for him in 2004. And they'll abide a philanderer. Until Bill Clinton blew past, Wade Boggs was the most famous womanizer in the world. Baseball writers voted for him in 2005.' - an excerpt from the cbssports.com article below.
http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/9847129
Pete Heinbaugh
7:48 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Apples and oranges, my friend.
BART FRAENKEL
8:30 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
The difference between steriods users and alcoholics, cocaine users and womanizers is that steroids are performance enhancers and the others aren't.
Some old-time players used greenies, which were uppers and helped give players energy in an artificial manner. However, a guy like Dock Ellis once pitched a no-hitter while using LSD.
As for the Hall of Fame, a guy like Ty Cobb, who was a racist and bigot and probably many more undesirable traits was is in the Hall and I don't hear anyone complaining about that.
baseball rules
8:11 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
how about the Alomar's ? (Sandy Sr., Sandy Jr., Roberto) The Niekro ? (Phil, Joe, Lance) And the # 1 family has gotta be the Alou's (Felipe,Mateu,Matty,Jesus,Moises)
Matt Nadel's Baseball with Matt (a kid blogger's baseball history blog)
7:42 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Great picks, but not top 5. Maybe some would make the top 10. I may need to do a longer list next time.
John
12:57 am on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Bart, have you ever sen an alcoholic try to perform anything without alcohol? I would argue that alcohol and the like do enhance the performance of someone addicted to it. Same goes for something as innocent as a cortisone shot. Without it, the players performance is diminished. I just don't like when they changed it from steroids to PEDs. They want to retroactively punish someone for using substances not previously banned....
BART FRAENKEL
7:31 am on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
I agree 100% with your comment about PED's, but I don't regarding the alcoholics. Billy Martin, Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, and the list goes on and on, they were all alcoholics and their drinking didn't enhance their performance, it diminished it. Foxx retired way too early and Mantle acknowledged that if he had done less carousing (drinking and womanizing) he would have performed better, and lived longer too.
Alcohol impairs your reaction time while steriods provide a chemical enhancement for muscle recovery and gives people added strength. I really don't see the similarities.
paul smith
8:37 am on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
what about the Waner brothers? Casey Stengle remarked how Paul Waner could slide into third without breaking the bottle in his back pocket
BN
6:35 am on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The Acerra brothers of Long Branch!
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/51686-brothers-at-bat-author-appears-at-baseball-hall-of-fame.html#path/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/51686-brothers-at-bat-author-appears-at-baseball-hall-of-fame.html
Matt Nadel's Baseball with Matt (a kid blogger's baseball history blog)
7:41 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Paul - the Waners are the top names of my list.
Bart - agree with you.
Lee Navlen
9:14 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Did anyone mention the Niekro brothers? Knuckleballers!
Fred M
1:50 am on Thursday, March 7, 2013
My choice is Chipper, Cleon and Andrew Jones..
InfotainMe
6:26 am on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Although he made his mark in a different sport, don't forget Basketball. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIbp5C-5WXM
Tom Russo
10:54 am on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Just wanted to point out that while Vince DiMaggio was not a great hitter, he was a two-time All Star. His brothers both considered him the best fielder of the three so he must have been terrific on defense.
Pete Heinbaugh
11:39 am on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Good comments. In the shuffle of statistics, great defensive players get overlooked in the history books.
Great example is Bill Mazeroski. Maz was finally selected for the Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee in 2001, 29 years after he retired. At the time, many fans looked at his stats and wondered if his selection was merited. But it was overlooked by those fans that he is generally considered to be the best defensive 2nd baseman ever.
Jeff Stiefbold
11:59 am on Thursday, March 7, 2013
The Bonds Family.. Bobby and Barry
Mr. Boondoggle
12:38 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Umm, Dizzy and Paul Dean?
Bob English
8:33 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Ramon Martinez (135-88) and Pedro Martinez (219-100) Pedro was dominent in the steroid era including a couple of years of having an era of under 2 runs/game
wharfrat
10:25 pm on Thursday, March 7, 2013
Matt,
If you want to go way back in baseball history, I'd suggest that you look at the Wright brothers-George and Harry. Both of them are in the Hall of Fame.