Upton brothers launched their own theory of relativity against the Rockies.
Yesterday (April 23, 2013), 21,724 fans attending the Colorado Rockies homes game against the red hot Atlanta Braves were treated to a baseball rarity, as brothers B.J. and Justin Upton cranked back-to-back homers in the fifth inning of the Braves’ 10-2 victory.
How rare are MLB back-to-back jacks by brothers? The Uptons were only the second set of brothers to accomplish the feat – following Paul and Lloyd Waner (both Hall of Famers), who hit back-to-back dingers (also in the fifth inning) for the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 7-2 road win over the New York Giants on September 15, 1938.
For BBRT, the Upton’s accomplishment brought back memories of an even rarer long ball feat – back-to-back home runs by father/son major leaguers. It happened in the first inning of a Seattle Mariners 7-5 loss to the California Angels on September 14, 1990 and the principals were, of course, Ken Griffey Senior and Junior. (By the way, for you trivia buffs, the Griffeys’ shared first name is not Ken. The pair are, in fact, George Kenneth Griffey, senior and junior.) The two remain not only the only father/son duo to hit back-to-back homers, but the only such pair to even homer in the same game.
This brings BBRT to another of those “in baseball we count everything” moments. When it comes to the Upton’s’ accomplishment – and going beyond back-to-back dingers – brothers homering for the same team in the same game is itself a rare feat. It’s been accomplished just 27 times in MLB history to date. This is comparable in rarity to the pitching of a perfect game (23 times).
Here are the players:
Four times:
Jason and Jeremy Giambi, A’s
Vlad and Wilton Guerrero, Expos
Three times:
Justin and B.J. Upton, Braves (they’ll be moving up this list)
Paul and Lloyd Waner, Pirates
Hank and Tommy Aaron, Braves (in Milwaukee)
Two times:
Tony and Billy Conigliaro, Red Sox
Cal, Jr. and Billy Ripken, Orioles
Adrian and Edgar Gonzalez, Padres
Once:
Felipe and Matty Alou, Giants
Matty and Jesus Alou, Giants (making Matty the only brother to hit homers in the same game with two different brothers)
Bengie and Jose Molina, Angels
Adam and Andy LaRoche, Pirates
By the way, if you are on one of Ballpark Tours trips (see ballparktours.net) this year, you can expect something from this post to be on the traditional K-Kwiz.
