Father Son Combinations

Ken Griffey Sr.

Being that Father's Day is this weekend, Dean's Cards.com would like to recognize the special bond between father's and their sons, which is undoubtedly been a key ingredient in the growth and popularity of America's pastime.  While it's often our father's that will teach us the game, their have been over a hundred uniquely lucky dad's who have also shared their major league talent with their sons.  Today, we will take a look at a few of them.

Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. were not only both lucky enough to put on major league uniforms, they actually had the opportunity to put on the same uniform and play the outfield together. And on one special night during the 1990 season, they combined to hit back to back home runs.  Along with the Griffey's, Tim Raines and Tim Raines Jr. are the only other father son duo to play for the same team.

Bobby Bonds

While Ken Griffey Jr. was perhaps best known for hitting home runs, no father-son combination hit as many as Barry and Bobby Bonds: combining for a total of 1,094 home runs.  Also, the pair combined for 975 stolen bases, so we think it's safe to say that speed runs in the Bonds family.

When it came to preventing home runs, one of the best father-son duo's were Mel and Todd Stottlemyre.   In 11 years as a Yankees, Mel won 164 games, struck out 1,257 batters and pitched 152 complete games. His son Todd struck out 1,587 batters and won 138 games over his 14 year career.  Mel Stottlemyre Jr. also pitched in the big leagues and had 14 strikeouts.  The three Stottlemyre's combined for 3,158 strikeouts, more than any other father-son combination.

Felipe Alou

In terms of major league experience, it's difficult to match the the Alou family.  The father-son combination of Felipe and Moises Alou paired up to appear in more than 4,000 games in the Major Leagues.  The Alou family spent a lot of time on the base too, as each was able to collect more than 2,000 hits.

Although the vast majority of father's and sons combinations never experience the game together as these families do, most share the game at some point.  It's our dad's who teach us how to play and take us to our first games. They play catch with us and buy us our first baseball cards.  Without our these special men we call dad, the game of baseball wouldn't be nearly as cherished as it is.

Let Dean's Cards be the first to wish all the dad's a very special Father's Day.