The Mets, and their sons

When we think of father-son relationships in the world of baseball, we commonly compare the success of the son to that of his father’s. A great example of a father-son relationship in baseball is Ken Griffey Sr., and his Hall of Famer son Ken Griffey Jr. Griffey Jr. of course is among the few who are lucky to have an absolutely outstanding career, and it just happens that he was the son of Ken Griffey. There have been a whole host of unsuccessful sons of major league players, such as Pete Rose Jr., John Mayberry Jr., and even Ike Davis. We rarely look at the sons of baseball players who are unsuccessful in other professions though. As it turns out, the Mets have had sons of players do a variety of different things-and have been very successful in doing so.

Tim McGraw- The son of one of the more charismatic players in franchise history, Tim was not recognized as Tug’s son until the age of 17. Tim would go on to have an incredibly successful career as a country music recording artist. Whether or not you are a fan of country music, McGraw’s success has been polarizing, as he has released 25 albums. Most notably, one of his songs, Live like You Were Dying, was inspired by his father’s death of a brain tumor in 2003. Before his death though, the two were able to develop a solid relationship.

Patrick Mahomes- The son of Pat Mahomes, Patrick has differentiated himself from his father with not only his first name, but also the sport he plays. Now under center for the Kansas City Chiefs, the younger Mahomes uses the same motion of a shortstop making a throw on the run when he is chased out of the pocket. His father went 8-0 for the Mets with a 3.68 ERA to help them reach the 1999 NLCS. The Chiefs quarterback, showed his pride for his father by wearing his dad’s jersey from the 97 win season to his home game against the Cincinnati Bengals on October 21st.

Donovan Mitchell- While Donovan Mitchell’s father, Donovan Sr. never actually played for the Mets, he is still a vital member of the Mets organization. The older Mitchell is the director of player relations and community engagement for the Mets. His son, who used to go with the team on bus trips during spring training as a kid, is lighting up the NBA world as a shooting guard for the Utah Jazz. The 2018 NBA Slam Dunk Champion has been a vocal supporter of the Mets, and has been known to tweet when something big happens during the season.

While there will always be sons of former players in Major League Baseball, it is also important to look outside of the baseball world to see the success of these players. Like Mahomes, a lot of the players take the lessons that they learned on the diamond from their fathers and the players that they were surrounded by and apply them to their current profession.