Brother, can you spare me some time?

Sporting News, The, August 18, 2003 by Todd Jones

Remember when you were growing up, and you and your friends would play ball--whatever the sport was at that time of year--till dark? You and your brother would fight with each other all day long, but no one else could say a word to your brother. You'd be right there to protect him, and he'd be right there to protect you.

Baseball presents a lot of challenges, and if you have your brother with you the whole way, it has to be a lot more meaningful. The odds of anybody playing in the major leagues are long, so the odds of brothers making it at the same time are really long. But the odds of you and your brother being the entire catching corps for a big-league club? It just doesn't happen.

Well, last week, we played the Angels, and they have a pair of brothers, Bengie and Jose Molina, who are catchers. That got me thinking: It would be cool to play with your brother, but would it be cool to have your brother play the same position you do? Bengie plays most of the tune, and Jose is the backup. "I love having my brother around," Bengie says. "It's not competitive at all. We help each other."

Bengie is the starter, for sure. He was the catcher when the Angels won the whole thing last October. When Bengie gets the day off, it's Jose's turn to show his big brother what he can do. "I'm a little quicker with my release, but Jose has a stronger arm," Beagie says. "He's always had the stronger arm."

In the big leagues, all you really concern yourself with is winning, so there is not as much friendly competition as there is in the minors. In the minors, it must be good to have your own blood right there with you going through the ups and downs, all the buses, all the McDonald's, all the 3:30 a.m. wake-up calls to get your flight to the next city, all the winter ball, all the instructional league stuff.

There are a several pairs of brothers in the major leagues these days, and those have to be special relationships. I was thinking about all those guys, and I started to wonder which would be the hardest job, being the brother of Cal Ripken, Tony Gwynn, or Greg Maddux? Those guys' brothers--Billy Ripken, Chris Gwynn and Mike Maddux--played at least 10 years in the major leagues themselves, so it's not like they didn't do anything in their careers. But there has to be a point when each wondered, "Why can't I do what my brother can do?"

When I went to Detroit, Buddy Bell was my manager. He managed against his son, David, who was with St. Louis, in interleague play. Buddy said it was kind of weird, but he just did his job. How about Buddy's wife, Gloria? She had to wear two hats and cheer for both of them.

At least the Molinas' parents don't have to split their allegiance--for now, anyway. A third brother, Yadier, is a minor league catcher in the Cardinals' organization.

E-mail Todd Jones, a reliever for the Red Sox, at tjones@ sportingnews.com.