The Big Orange Guy’s Top 5 – Brothers In Sports

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This weekend, we were all so blessed to be given the option to watch the “Manning Bowl”.  It was not much of a game, but it did give the rare look into two brothers in professional sports playing one another.  So, as I was watching the game I started jotting down names of brothers that I know play professional sports.  Well, what else was I going to do as a Giants fan?  I came up with a short list and then I did a little more research into some brother combinations.  I came up with my Top 5 Brothers in Professional Sports.  How did I choose only 5?  I did it based upon name recognition and I also did try to get one from the four major sports.

#1 Baseball – The Catching Molinas (Bengie, Jose and Yadier)

Bengie, currently of the Texas rangers has played for the Angels, Blue Jays, Giants and the rangers in his career.  The career .273 hitter is the oldest of the brothers and was part of the 2002 Anaheim Angels World Series team.  He is ranked 12th overall in fielding percentage all-time for catchers.

Jose, also a World Series winner in Anaheim was also part of the New York Yankees championship in 2009.  He is a career .236 hitter and is also a quality fielder, ranking 22nd of all-time in fielding percentage.

Yadier has only played for the Cardinals since his career began in 2004.  He is a 268 career hitter and has been on the last two National League All-Star teams.  He ranks just below his brothers at 26th all-time in defensive fielding and completes the cycle of World Series winners named Molina with the Cardinals 2006 championship.

#2 Hockey – The Miller Brothers

Ryan, of the Buffalo Sabres may be best known for his play during the 2010 Olympics, leading team USA to a Silver Medal while posting a 1.35 GAA.  For the Sabres, he has a career save percentage of .914 (ranking 6th overall in career save percentage) and a career GAA of 2.57.  He received a standing ovation in his first game after the Olympics in Pittsburgh, a tribute from the Penguins fans thanking him for his country’s service.

Drew, playing for his third team in three seasons in the NHL started his career at the age of 16 with the Capital Centre Pride.  The 26 year old scored a career high 10 goals last season for the Red Wings and also scored a goal for Detroit in the 2010 Playoffs.  He is the tenth Miller to play hockey for Michigan State and has three other cousins playing in the NHL (Kip, Kevin and Kelly).

#3 Basketball – The Gasol Brothers

Pau is a two time champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, starting as their center.  He was the third pick overall by the Atlanta Hawks in 2001 and was immediately traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.  In 2008, he was traded to the Lakers in a trade that included his younger brother, Marc.  He is a three time all-star and is averaging over 13 points per game for his career and ranks 40th in career standing for shooting percentage (.521).

Marc was drafted by the Lakers and as mentioned above, traded to the grizzlies in a trade that included his older brother.  He was the 48th pick overall in 2007 and was a member of the 2nd all-Rookie team for the 2008-2009 season.  He ranked 4th overall in field goal percentage in the 2009-2010 season (.581) and like his brother is averaging over 13 points per game for his career.

#4 Football – Abdullah Brothers

I chose the Abdullah brothers because I saw a story on them a couple of weeks ago during pre-season workouts.  Hamza and Husain are devout Muslims and could not eat during the daylight hours from August 11 to September 10, due to Ramadan.  Hamza said that during training camp he would wake at 4:30am and “eat a normal-sized breakfast. Waffles, vegetarian sausages and some eggs. Oatmeal or a protein bar in there, and then I start my fast. One important thing is hydration; I probably drink 200 ounces of water in the morning, and after I break my fast, I’m continually drinking throughout the night just to make sure that I’m hydrated and replenishing those fluids that I lost during the day.”  Hamza was trying to make the Arizona Cardinals and his brother Husain was attempting to make the Minnesota Vikings.  Both brothers made their respective teams.

#5 Wild Card (Soccer) – Boateng Brothers

These brothers played on different teams for the World Cup and actually played one another.  Jerome plays for the German national team and Kevin-Prince plays for Ghana.  They have separate mothers and were raised by those mothers.  In fact they stopped talking before the World Cup when Kevin-Prince injured a German national player and Jerome publicly said he deserved a red card for his actions.  As the World Cup ended, these brothers had still not spoken.

That is this week’s Top 5.  Have a great week!