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In the Major Leagues: sons who surpassed their fathers

“No one will ever win the War of the Genres, because there is too much fraternization with the enemy”Henry Kissinger

Yesterday, Sunday, June 19, was Father’s Day in the United States, Cuba, Mexico, and other countries that celebrate it on the third Sunday in June. In our country it is scheduled for Sunday, July 31.

Today’s theme as the crow flies, is that of the sons who surpassed the Fathers in the Big leagues and taking a quick look we take these three examples: Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds and Moises Alou.

They are currently putting up good numbers Vladimir Guerrero Jr.., with the Blue Jays and Jeremy Peña, with the Astros, sons of Vladimir (HOF) Guerrero and Gerónimo Peña.

I remember when Griffey Sr. and Jr. became the first father-son combination to play in the same lineup and also became the first father-son pair to hit back-to-back home runs, it struck a chord in the hearts of fans. of baseball.

But the parent-child phenomenon is almost as old as the game itself.

In 1910, 1911 and 1914, Earle Mack saw action in a few games for his father Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics. He later returned to manage the A’s for parts of the 1937 and 1939 seasons.

More than 250 parent-child combinations have made it to the Big leagues since Jack Doscher, son of Herm Doscher, made his debut in 1903, becoming the first second-generation player to do so.

In the twilight of his career, Bobby Bonds played for both the Cubs and Red Sox. His son Barry was available for the White Sox in the draft, but the White Sox decided to select catcher Kurt Brown, who never made it to the Big leagues.

In many cases, fate seems to dictate that the sons of baseball players enter their father’s profession.

An Associated Press photo from 2001 shows Roger Clemens’ 5-year-old son, Kody, taking direction from Roger’s American League teammate Andy Pettitte during All-Star batting practice. Kody, today he is a pitcher but he will never be a Roger Clemens.

The samples in our insular bitercio are many and there are the Virgil, Olivo, Javier, Mota, Tatis, Peña, Fermín, Canó, Mondesí and Linares.

Today more than in the past the children have put on the spikes of their parents.

A day like today

  • 1954, Licey and Escondido played 17 innings at the La Normal stadium, winning the Tigres 5-3, where Ewell Blackwell, Chichí Olivo and Miguel Angel Vargas pitched for the Tigres. JC Santana (9), Enrique Reynoso (6) and Garabato Sackie (2) pitched for the Lions. That was the game with the most entries in the last Summer Championship, unfortunately no chronicle of the time recorded its duration.

  • 1989, Tony Fernandez, Toronto, hits two home runs in a game for the first time in his career against Anaheim.

  • 1998, Sammy Sosa of the Cubs hits his 21st home run in the last 30 days, something no other slugger has ever done. The previous high was 20, set by Ralph Kiner in 1947 and tied by Roger Maris in 1961. The 30 days of Sosa run from May 22 to June 22.

  • 2000, José Vizcaíno, is traded by the Dodgers to the Yankees for Jim Leyritz.

  • In 2002, Luis Castillo extended his string of hits in a row to 34, surpassing Roger Hornsby’s record.

  • 2007, Sammy Sosa hits his 600th career home run, joining Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays at that level. Jason Marquis allows the hit for the Cubs. In a strange circumstance, Marquis wears uniform number 21, which Sosa had worn in his years with the Cubs.

  • BIRTHDAYS: 1991 – Rymer Liriano, outfielder…1993 – Adalberto Mejía, pitcher…1995 – Félix Bautista, pitcher…2000 – Ronny Henríquez, pitcher.

Sports reporter. Baseball lover and his experiences.

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