Dozens of father-and-son combinations have played or managed in Major League Baseball (MLB).
The first was Jack Doscher, son of Herm Doscher, who made his debut in 1903.
Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. became the first father-and-son duo to play in MLB at the same time, in 1989 when Ken Jr. was called up by the Seattle Mariners while Ken Sr. was playing with the Cincinnati Reds. They became Mariner teammates in 1990. In Ken Sr.'s first game as a Mariner, on August 31, 1990, the pair hit back-to-back singles in the first inning and both scored.[1] On September 14, in the top of the first off California Angels pitcher Kirk McCaskill, the pair hit back-to-back home runs, the only father-son duo to do so.[2] They played 51 games together before Ken Sr. retired in June 1991.
In 2001, Tim Raines and Tim Raines Jr. played as teammates with the Baltimore Orioles.
At the 2023 Home Run Derby, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Sr. became the first father-son duo to win the trophy.
Cecil and Prince Fielder are the only father-son combination each to hit 50 or more home runs in any season. Cecil Fielder hit 51 homers in 1990; 17 years later, his son Prince, hit 50. Both Prince and Cecil hit exactly 319 home runs in their careers.
Six families have had a father and son serve as managers:
Third-generation families
editIn 1992, Bret Boone became the first third-generation MLB player.
There are six third-generation MLB-player families:
- The Bells (Gus, Buddy, David, Mike)
- The Boones (Ray, Bob, Bret, Aaron)
- The Colemans (Joe, Joe Jr., Casey) - The Colemans are the only third-generation family of pitchers.
- The Hairstons (Sammy, Jerry, Johnny, Jerry Jr., Scott)
- The Kessingers (Don, Keith, Grae)
- The Schofield/Werths (Ducky Schofield, Dick Schofield, and Jayson Werth). Werth is the grandson of Ducky Schofield and nephew of Dick Schofield, and also the stepson of Dennis Werth.
In addition to the pairs listed above, there have been 21 other pairs of grandfathers and grandsons who played Major League Baseball. The list of grandsons includes one current player: Mike Yastrzemski is the grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski.
There are third-generation families affiliated with MLB in roles other than team player:
- The Bossards (Emil, Marshall, Gene, Roger) are a family of MLB groundskeepers.
- The DeWitts (brothers Bill DeWitt and Charlie: GM/owners of St. Louis Browns; Bill was also an executive for the Detroit Tigers and the Cincinnati Reds; William DeWitt Jr.: principal owner/managing partner of St. Louis Cardinals; Bill DeWitt III: St. Louis Cardinals President) are a family of MLB executives.
- The Rickeys (Branch Rickey, Branch Rickey Jr., Branch Barrett Rickey)
- The Runges (Ed, Paul, Brian) are a family of MLB Umpires.
- The Veecks (William Veeck Sr.: Chicago Cubs President; Bill Veeck: Cleveland Indians Owner, St. Louis Browns, and Chicago White Sox; Mike Veeck: owner of independent minor-league St. Paul Saints) are a family of MLB executives.
- The Comiskey family (Charles Comiskey: player, manager, and Chicago White Sox owner; J. Louis Comiskey and Grace Comiskey: Chicago White Sox owners; and Dorothy Comiskey Rigney and Chuck Comiskey: Chicago White Sox owners and Johnny Rigney player and husband of Dorothy Comiskey Rigney) were a family of MLB executives and players.
- The O'Malley and Seidler family (Walter O'Malley: Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers President); Peter O'Malley: Los Angeles Dodgers President; Peter Seidler, grandson of Walter O'Malley: San Diego Padres Chairman) are a family of MLB executives.
There are fourth-generation families affiliated with MLB in roles other than team player:
Various potential four-generation families
editAs of 2024[update], there has never been a fourth-generation major league player. However, two potential fourth-generation players have been drafted and/or signed to minor-league contracts.
In 2017, Jake Boone was selected by the Washington Nationals in the 38th round of the 2017 MLB Draft, but did not sign.[5] Jake's father is Bret Boone; his grandfather is Bob Boone; and his great-grandfather was the late Ray Boone. (Also, Aaron Boone is his uncle.) Jake played college baseball at Princeton University for three seasons before signing a free-agent contract with the Nationals in July 2020. He was unable to play professional ball immediately after signing his contract because Minor League Baseball canceled its 2020 season.[6][7] In 2021, he spent the entire season with Washington's Low-A East affiliate, the Fredericksburg Nationals. Heading into the 2022 season, Jake was reassigned to the National's Rookie-level affiliate, but was released on May 4, 2022.[8] Since 2022, Jake has been playing in the independent Frontier League.
Luke Bell was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 34th round of the 2019 MLB Draft. His father Mike Bell was a 13-season minor leaguer who played briefly for the Cincinnati Reds in 2000 and was the vice president of player development for the Diamondbacks before his death in March 2021.[9] Luke Bell's uncle is David Bell; his grandfather is Buddy Bell; and his great-grandfather was the late Gus Bell. Luke Bell opted not to play Minor League Baseball in 2019 after he was drafted, In 2020 he made 5 appearances as a pitcher for Chandler-Gilbert Community College before the season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. He transferred to Xavier University in 2021 and played three seasons for the Musketeers. Since 2023, he has been playing in the lower levels of the Chicago White Sox farm system.
There are three known cases of a great-grandson following in his great-grandfather's footsteps to play Major League Baseball. Bill Wilkinson played for the Seattle Mariners from 1985 to 1988; his great-grandfather, Jim Bluejacket played for Brooklyn in the Federal League in 1914-15 and for the Cincinnati Reds in 1916. More recently, Drew Pomeranz and his brother Stu Pomeranz, who played briefly in 2012, both followed in the footsteps of their great-grandfather Garland Buckeye who was a regular starting pitcher for the Cleveland Indians for three years in the mid-1920s and also appeared in one game each with two other teams.
The MacPhail family is the first family known to have four generations affiliated with Major League Baseball in roles other than as players. Larry was the general manager of the Reds and Dodgers as well as the president, general manager, and co-owner of the Yankees. Larry's son, Lee, was president and general manager of the Orioles, executive vice president and general manager of the Yankees, and president of the American League. Larry and Lee are also the only father-and-son duo to have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The MacPhails became baseball's first three-generation family when Lee MacPhail III became an executive with the Reading Phillies of the Eastern League. Lee II's other son, Andy, is the president of the Phillies and was previously general manager of the Twins, president and chief executive officer of the Cubs, and president of baseball operations for the Orioles. The family became baseball's first four-generation family with Lee MacPhail III's son, Lee MacPhail IV, who has served as director of scouting for the Indians, Expos, Nationals, and Orioles.
As of the 2024 Major League Baseball season, the Caray family will also have four generations of MLB broadcasters when Harry Christopher Caray IV (Chris) broadcasts his first game with the Oakland Athletics, joining his father, Harry Christopher III (Chip), grandfather Harry Christopher, Jr. (Skip), and great-grandfather Harry Christopher Caray, Sr. in the booth.
Key
edit| Italic | Managed his son(s) |
| † | Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame |
| * | Player is active |
List of players
editSecond–generation
editThird–generation
edit| Grandfather | Position | Son(s) | Position | Grandson(s) | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Coleman | Pitcher | Joe Coleman | Pitcher | Casey Coleman* | Pitcher |
| Gus Bell | Outfielder | Buddy Bell | Third baseman / Manager | David Bell | Infielder / Manager |
| Mike Bell | Infielder | ||||
| Ray Boone | Infielder | Bob Boone | Catcher / Manager | Aaron Boone | Third baseman / Manager |
| Bret Boone | Second baseman | ||||
| Sam Hairston | Catcher | Jerry Hairston Sr. | Outfielder | Jerry Hairston Jr. | Outfielder |
| Scott Hairston | |||||
| Johnny Hairston | Catcher / Outfielder |
Other second-generation MLB personnel
editParent played in top-level professional baseball
editThe following families had a parent play top-level professional baseball in a league other than MLB and a child who played in MLB.
| Parent | Position | League | Son(s) | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luis Aparicio, Sr. | SS | Venezuelan Professional Baseball League | Luis Aparicio† | SS |
| Helen Callaghan | CF | All-American Girls Professional Baseball League | Casey Candaele | UTL |
| Pedro Cepeda | SS/1B | Puerto Rico Baseball League | Orlando Cepeda† | 1B |
| Lourdes Gurriel | LF, 1B | Cuba national baseball team | Yuli Gurriel* | |
| Lourdes Gurriel Jr.* | LF | |||
| Kazuhiro Kuroda | CF | Nippon Professional Baseball | Hiroki Kuroda | P |
| Lee Jong-beom | RF | Korea Baseball Organization | Jung-hoo Lee* | CF |
| Leon Lee | 1B | Nippon Professional Baseball | Derrek Lee | 1B |
| Lázaro Vargas | 3B/1B | Cuba national baseball team | Miguel Vargas* | 2B |
Umpiring families
edit| * | Umpire is active |
| Father | League | Son | League1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shag Crawford | NL | Jerry Crawford2 | NL/MLB |
| Lou DiMuro | AL | Mike DiMuro | AL/MLB, CL (Japan) |
| Ray DiMuro | AL | ||
| Tom Gorman | NL | Brian Gorman | NL/MLB |
| Ed Runge | AL | Paul Runge | NL |
| Paul Runge | NL | Brian Runge | NL/MLB |
| Harry Wendelstedt | Hunter Wendelstedt |
^1 The National and American Leagues consolidated umpiring crews beginning in the 2000 season; umpires who worked after the consolidation are denoted with "MLB".
^2 Joe Crawford, another son of Shag Crawford and brother of Jerry Crawford, is an official in the National Basketball Association.
See also
edit- List of professional sports families
- List of family relations in American football
- List of association football (soccer) families
- List of Australian rules football families
- List of second-generation National Basketball Association players
- List of boxing families
- List of chess families
- List of International cricket families
- List of family relations in the National Hockey League
- List of family relations in rugby league
- List of international rugby union families
- List of professional wrestling families
References
edit- ^ "August 31, 1990 Kansas City Royals at Seattle Mariners Play by Play and Box Score". Baseball-Reference.com. August 31, 1990. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
- ^ "September 14, 1990 Seattle Mariners at California Angels Play by Play and Box Score". Baseball-Reference.com. September 14, 1990. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
- ^ "Former Mariner David Bell hired as manager of Reds". The Seattle Times. The Associated Press. October 21, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
- ^ "Chris Caray hired as TV broadcaster for Oakland A's games". Retrieved April 13, 2024.
- ^ "College baseball: Princeton's Jake Boone has dreams of becoming first fourth-generation MLB player". NCAA.com. May 2, 2018. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
- ^ "Boone Signs with Washington Nationals".
- ^ Weyrich, Matt (August 9, 2020). "Nationals sign Jake Boone, who could be MLB's first fourth-generation player". NBC Sports. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
- ^ "Jake Boone Stats, Fantasy & News". MiLB.com. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
- ^ "Bobby Witt Jr. headlines legacies in MLB Draft". MLB. Retrieved June 5, 2019.