These are the sports dreams of childhood.
Not only have brothers Bo Naylor and Josh Naylor both made it into the big leagues. They also play on the same team. Bo is a rookie catcher for the Cleveland Guardians and Josh is a fifth-year first baseman.
Both hit home runs on Friday — in the same inning. Bo opened the scoring against the Rangers on Friday with a two-run blaster on Texas starter Jon Gray early in the third inning.
The 435-foot shot to the right field stand was the second home run of his MLB career.
Four batters later, Bo doubled the Cleveland lead with a two-run shot of his own. This one, also outside of Gray, was dumped in the stands just behind the foul pole in right field.
Unfortunately for the Guardians, that ended their point tie and Rangers won 12-4. But the loss didn’t stop the moment for the Naylors, who became the first pair of brothers since 2013 to hit a home run in the same MLB inning. Bo spoke to reporters after the game about what it meant to him.
“It’s very special,” he said. “I think it was something we’ve talked about and joked about in the past. Seeing it happen is pretty crazy.
“When I met mine he and I had a great moment, you could see how excited he was for me. And when he met his, I was up on the top step waiting for him. It was just a cool moment to share with him.”
Josh Naylor celebrates a Naylor brother’s second home run hit in the third inning of Friday’s Rangers-Guardians game. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
This was only the ninth time the brothers had hit home runs in the same inning since 1900. The last time it happened Justin and BJ Upton did it for the Atlanta Braves in 2013. The time before? The Upton brothers too, just a few weeks earlier.
Josh is entrenched in the Guardians’ lineup as a cleanup hitter. Bo is a highly touted candidate who was selected in the first round in 2018 and is a regular starter in his first MLB season. There’s a good chance it won’t be more than 13 years before baseball does that feat again.