As Junior Griffey wished his dad (and his son, Trey) a "Happy Father's Day" with his 500th career home run yesterday, the thought bubbled ... this might be the first era in baseball history in which it's possible to build a complete All-Star team of sons of former players.
So here we go. It's not precisely "Hall of Names" fodder, but these are names you'll recognize.
The outfield is strong with Ken (son of Ken) Griffey flanked by Barry (son of Bobby) Bonds and Moises (son of Felipe) Alou. Very nice ... and a couple of former phenoms in Jose (son of Jose) Cruz and Ben (son of Tom) Grieve are in reserve.
The corners are slick with the leather but weak with the stick, as Scott (son of Ed) Spiezio and David (son of Buddy) Bell man first and third, respectively; injuries remove the competition from these positions as Aaron (son of Bob) Boone and David (son of Diego) Segui watch from the sidelines. But watch out for the kids -- Adam (son of Dave) LaRoche and Sean (son of Jeff) Burroughs could take Spiezio's and Bell's jobs someday soon.
Shortstop is a problem, what with Cal Ripken long retired, but we'll take some liberties and move the slick-fielding Scott (son of Jerry) Hairston over to play Cal's old position, while his brother Jerry, an outfielder, is relegated to the bench.
The catcher is Jason (son of Fred) Kendall. Cody (son of Dave) McKay, Dusty (son of John) Wathan and Todd (son of Randy) Hundley are around to vie for time in the tools of ignorance, while Sandy (son of Sandy) Alomar is also available behind the plate -- though he is bumped from the starting lineup, just like his brother Roberto, who loses the second base job to Bret (son of Bob) Boone by a margin of about six years.
Tony (son of Tony) Armas gets the ball to start, with Darren (son of Bob) Oliver and Mike (son of Mike) Bacsik available in long relief. Jaret (son of Clyde) Wright and Justin (son of Chris) Speier are around to set up Robb (son of Dick) Nen, who is, of course, the closer.
Bench fodder includes Daryle (son of Gary) Ward, Jayson (son of Dennis) Werth, Tim (son of Tim) Raines, Gary (son of Gary) Matthews, as well as the older brother Hairston.
So here's your all-active-son All-Star team. Might could win a pennant with this lineup ...
Jason Kendall, C
Bret Boone, 2B
Barry Bonds, LF
Ken Griffey, CF
Moises Alou, RF
Jose Cruz, DH
Scott Spiezio, 1B
David Bell, 3B
Scott Hairston, SS
Tony Armas, SP
... the question is, could the fathers (in their primes) have beaten the sons?
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20040621100106999