Dom DiMaggio and brothers in baseball
Posted by Andy on May 12, 2009
I don't think I can do justice to Dom DiMaggio's carrer to wriet a good enough obituary for him, but I will say that I've always felt he was an underrated player. Pick up a copy of Summer of '49 by David Halberstam--a simply incredible baseball book--to learn more about Dom DiMaggio than I could ever tell you.
Both Dom and Joe DiMaggio (but not their other brother Vince) lost a few prime years to World War II, as did so many other players during the 1940s. I think that Dom would have been much better regarded had he been able to play those year, but I think there was an even bigger factor hurting his reputation: being the brother of Joe. Had Dom DiMaggio played under another name and not been associated with his very successful brother, I think he would have been regarded as a superstar player and not just an all-star.
That got me to wondering--was Dom DiMaggio the best major-league player overshadowed by an even better brother?
Here are some other possible candidates I came up with:
Sandy Alomar Jr overshadowed by brother Roberto
Matty Alou overshadowed by brother Felipe
Wes Ferrell overshadowed by brother Rick Ferrell (although I'm not sure that Wes was overshadowed by Rick even though the latter made the Hall of Fame, so maybe this should be reversed.)
Rip Sewell overshadowed by brother Joe
Ramon Martinez overshadowed by brother Pedro
Joe Niekro overshadowed by brother Phil
Dixie and Harry Walker...again not sure who was better regarded although Dixie is the HOFer.
HOFer Lloyd Waner overshadowed by fellow HOFer brother Paul
Jim Perry overshadowed by brother Gaylord
Remember...I'm looking here for the best player who has an even better brother. Most of the cases above are an All-Star overshadowed by a HOFer.
Is Dom DiMaggio the best? What do you think?
May 12th, 2009 at 9:42 am
Also Paul Dean overshadowed by Dizzy. A few Delahanty brothers, most notably Jim, overshadowed by Ed. I'm not sure whether Mort or Walker Cooper was more highly regarded, both very good players. Stephen and J.D. Drew. The Upton Bros. have the potential to be one of the best duos.
I wasn't around but I agree it's doubtful that Wes was overshadowed by Rick at the time they played.
Dixie Walker's not in the HOF.
May 12th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Oh yeah I misread that. Dixie's just an All-Star.
May 12th, 2009 at 11:44 am
How about:
1.Ken Boyer and Clete
2.Hank Aaron and Tommy
3.Cal Ripken and Billy
4.Jason Giambi and Jeremy
5.Larry Sherry and Norm
May 12th, 2009 at 11:49 am
You think Billy Ripken was a good as, say, Sandy Alomar Jr? We're not just talking about any ol' brothers in baseball here.
May 12th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Don't forget Paul Reuschel, overshadowed by brother Rick.
May 12th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
How about fathers and sons who have overshadowed one another?
May 12th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Ahh the Boyers are a good one, forgot about them. Also a 3rd brother, Cloyd, who wasn't too good.
Anyway, to actually try answering the question....Dom certainly seems near the top of second-fiddle brothers. I'm not sure he's actually inferior to Lloyd Waner, who was not a worthy HOF choice. Jim Perry and Joe Niekro are in the running. Wes Ferrell might be the top choice, if we consider him the overshadowed brother simply because he's the one not in the HOF, though he's probably more deserving of that honor than Rick.
***
GOOD fathers and sons:
Ken Griffey Sr. is overshadowed by Jr.
It's not obvious to me whether Ray Boone, son Bob, or grandson Bret is a superior player. Aaron was probably a step behind.
Bobby Bonds overshadowed by Barry.
I suppose Felipe Alou takes a backseat to Moises, but it's close.
Any cases where the father was obviously better, but the son was still a good player? (No Pete Rose Jr's here)
May 12th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Mel and Todd Stottlemyre- Mel wins
Cecil and Prince Fielder- A tossup
Dave and Adam La Roche- tough one
Sandy Alomar Sr.- Junior and Roberto win
Yogi and Dale Berra- not worthy of discussion
May 12th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I'm pretty sure that Joe Sewell's brother was not Rip Sewell, who devised the eephus, but Luke Sewell, a prototypical good-field, no-hit catcher.
The Coveleskis, Stan and Harry, were both good. Harry had some very good years in the 1910s, and Stan was a Hall-of-Famer.
Both Carlos and Lee May were good, although they also had some major deficiencies.
That's pretty much all that I have, unless anyone feels that Wilton Guerrero was unfairly overlooked by the masses.
May 12th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Ken Brett overshadowed by his brother George.
Ozzie Canseco overshadowed by his brother Jose.
May 12th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
Some of you guys are really missing the point. We're talking about good players who had even better brothers. Ozzie Canseco, for example, was not a good player in the major leagues.
Also bunnywrangler is right...Luke, Joe, and Tommy Sewell were all brothers and Rip was their cousin.
May 12th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Bob and Roy Johnson were both pretty good. In another venue, I noted that John Paciorek probably had the best rate stats of anyone whose brother had a better career.
May 13th, 2009 at 7:01 am
How about Mike Maddux? He was a very effective reliever for a long time. And from 2003-2005 Marcus Giles was a pretty good 2B with an OPS+ of 121. His brother Brian over the same period had an OPS+ of 139.
May 13th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
If Brian Giles had gotten a chance to play sooner, and if he hadn't had his prime seasons for the Siberia Pirates, he might be seen as a borderline HOFer.
I'm not sure how you'd wanna frame it, but there might be an interesting entry to be made on woulda/coulda guys like Giles.