All in the Family

For nine Mariner players, baseball is not only in their hearts, but also in their blood. Two are third generation players. Seven others on the team have fathers or other relatives who were involved with the big leagues.

Bret Boone belongs to the first three-generation family in the major league. Grandfather, Ray (Ike) Boone, was an infielder who played from 1948-60 with the Indians, Tigers, White Sox, Athletics, Braves and Red Sox. Like his grandson, he was an All-Star twice and led the league in RBIs-116 in 1955 (Brett is on track to break his RBI record this season). His dad, Bob Boone, was a catcher for 19 years (1972-90) and once held a major league record for catching in the most games. He played in the All-Star Game four times while playing for the Phillies, Angels and Royals. He made it to the World Series once when the Phillies won in 1980 (another record Bret hopes to emulate this season). Currently Bob manages the Cincinnati Reds, where Bret's brother, Aaron, plays at third base. Bret and Aaron played together on the Reds from 1997-98. Another brother, Matthew, plays the infield in the Tiger's organization. See this new site on the Boones: http://bretboone.tripod.com/.

The second third-generation family to come on the ML scene was the Bells-all named David. David Russell (Gus) Bell played in the outfield from 1950-64 with the Pirates, Reds, Mets and Braves. He was selected for the All-Star Game four times. His son, David Gus (Buddy) Bell played 18 seasons (1972-89) with the Indians, Rangers, Reds and Astros. (Anyone, like me, have a Buddy Bell signature mitt from the 80's?) He was a five-time All Star and led the league in fielding percentage in '80, '82 and '87 at third base, the same position his son (David Michael) is playing so well this year. Buddy has been a manager since 1996, first with Detroit and currently with the Colorado Rockies, where son Michael plays AAA ball. Son Rick is with the AA Dodgers.

Stan Javier's father, Julian, played second base for the Cardinals (1960-72) and briefly for the Reds. He played twice on an All-Star team as well as twice on a winning World Series team.

Three Mariner baseball fathers have the same name as their sons. Ed Sprague Sr., was a pitcher with the A's, Reds, Cardinals and Brewers (1978-86). John Olerud Sr., currently the head of the Dermatology Department at the University of Washington, was an All-American catcher for WSU. He went on to play for a AAA club. Charles Gipson Sr. played three years in the minors for the A's and Twins.

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