Cleveland Indians: Father-son ties within Tribe’s roster

Father-son ties within Cleveland Indians roster

Major League Baseball seems to be in the Golden Age of family ties within the league and the Cleveland Indians have managed to add a few to their roster. The most well known names on the list aren’t in Cleveland, like Guerrero and Tatis, but there are a handful of players within the organization that have baseball in their blood.

Since it’s Father’s Day, we’re going to focus on the father-son duos but there are some clear honorable mentions that should be included from Cleveland’s roster. These pairs aren’t father-son, but still have relatives that played at the major league level.

We’ll start with a rather well known duo in Cleveland, Zach Plesac who is the nephew of Dan Plesac. While Dan is more known now for his announcing career, he did sustain an 18-year major league career as a pitcher. There’s also the brother-duo within the organization with Josh and Bo Naylor who could both be in Cleveland together in a just a few seasons.

There’s also a couple family ties that might not be as well known throughout the organization. Jordan Luplow is actually the grandnephew of Al Luplow, who played outfield for the Tribe from 1961 until 1965.

There’s also two other brother connections from the Tribe’s roster. Bradley Zimmer is the brother of Kyle Zimmer, a pitcher for the Kansas City Royals. Phil Maton is also brothers with Nick Maton, a middle infielder in Philadelphia.

While we’ve already touched on plenty of family ties in Cleveland, we still haven’t even reached the father-son duos. There aren’t as many father-son duos as family ties, but the Cleveland Indians have their fair share of major league Father’s Day celebrations on deck.

With that being said, here’s three father-son duos that have connections to the Cleveland Indians roster this season.

Sandy Alomar and Sandy Alomar Jr.

Moving to the coaching staff, Sandy Alomar and Sandy Alomar Jr. are one of the more well known father-son duos in the game. Obviously, the “junior” helps, plus the fact that there are two Alomar brothers in the game with Roberto Alomar as well.

Now the first base coach of the Tribe, Sandy Alomar Jr. was a solid catcher for the Tribe during his playing days. Making his major league debut in 1988 with the San Diego Padres, Alomar Jr. didn’t make his way to Cleveland until 1990, coming to Cleveland with Carlos Baerga and Chris James for Joe Carter.

In his first three seasons in Cleveland, Alomar saw three All-Star selections and repeated that trend for three consecutive seasons again from 1996 until 1998. Alomar Jr.’s playing career stretched 20 years, spending 11 seasons with the Tribe. In addition to Cleveland and San Diego, he made stops with the White Sox, Rockies, Rangers, Dodgers and Mets.

As for Sandy Alomar Sr., he debuted in 1964 and played until 1978 for a total of 15 seasons with six different teams. He began his career with the Milwaukee Braves, moved with them to Atlanta and then saw time with the Mets, White Sox, Angels, Yankees and Rangers having three teams in common with his son.

Alomar Sr. also had one All-Star selection in 1970, the first of two consecutive seasons when he appeared in all 162 games while leading the league in plate appearances both seasons as well.

Tito Francona and Terry Francona

The current manager of the Cleveland Indians isn’t the first Francona to put on a Cleveland uniform. While Terry Francona is often called “Tito” the first Tito Francona played six seasons in Cleveland.

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Tito Francona debuted during the 1956 campaign and played until 1970, amassing 15 major league seasons. He first played for Baltimore before playing for the White Sox, Tigers, Cardinals, Phillies, Braves, A’s and Brewers. However, he played the most seasons for Cleveland. His lone All-Star season came in 1961 after leading the league in doubles during the 1960 campaign.

As for Terry Francona, he played 10 seasons before entering coaching. His playing career began in Montreal during the 1981 season and included stops with the Cubs, Reds, Tribe and Brewers.

He quickly became a manager at the age of 38, taking the helm of the Philadelphia Phillies during the 1997 season. Francona stayed in Philly for four seasons before being let go. He took the job with the Boston Red Sox in 2004, managing the team until 2011 and winning two World Series rings.

From there, Francona joined the Cleveland Indians in 2013 and has become one of the more successful managers in team history, including a trip to the World Series in 2016.