ANALYSIS/OPINION:
I’m not sure if it’s a new method of sabermetrics, but the gene pool seems to be a hot way to pick talent these days, as teams are betting on bloodlines.
The Washington Nationals selected Mariano Rivera III — the son of the former great closer Mariano Rivera in the fourth round of the baseball draft this week.
If he signs, he’ll join a group of offsprings in the Nationals organization with All-Star fathers — Ryan Ripken, the son of Hall of Famer Cal Ripken; Tony Gwynn Jr., son of the late Tony Gwynn, and Cutter Dykstra, son of three-time All-Star Lenny Dykstra.
This could make father-son days at the ballpark must watch.
In the same draft, the Houston Astros chose Conor Biggio, the son of Astros great and Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, and Kody Clemens, the son of the never-to-be Hall of Famer Roger Clemens. This is the third time Houston has drafted one of Clemens’ sons. None have proven to be top prospects. I guess performance-enhancing drugs skip a generation.
Generational talent has been part of the story in the NBA playoffs, as the Western Conference champions, the Golden State Warriors, facing the Cleveland Cavaliers in the finals, led by the second generation guard tandem of Stephen Curry, the son of former NBA sharp shooter Dell Curry, and Klay Thompson, son of former NBA center Mychal Thompson.
Those dips in the gene pool paid off for Golden State.
The closest the Washington Wizards came to a successful family affair was Wes Unseld Jr., who, after playing basketball at Johns Hopkins University, has gone on to have a successful career in the NBA in player development, and is currently an assistant coach with the Orlando Magic.
Sometimes betting on blood lines doesn’t pay off — see Pete Rose, Jr., who spent 21 seasons bouncing around minor and independent leagues hoping to at least get a cup of coffee in the major leagues, where his famous disgraced father had the most hits of anybody who has ever played the game.
But sometimes, you wind up with a father-son duo who both wind up as star athletes in their respective professions.
In baseball, the father-son tandem of Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr. was one of the best in the game. Junior played 22 years in baseball, with 630 home runs and 1,836 RBI, and will soon be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. His father, Ken Sr., was a three-time All-Star who played 19 major league seasons, including two with his son in Seattle, with a .296 career average, 152 home runs and 859 RBI.
But surpassing even the Griffeys as the best father-son team of all time in baseball may have been Bobby and Barry Bonds — even with Bonds’ steroid history. If we assume that Barry Bonds’ steroid use began in 2001, when his single season home run total jumped from 49 to 73, he still had nearly 500 career home runs and won three National League Most Valuable Player honors up to that point.
His father was a troubled man, but a tremendous talent who probably could have accomplished more. Bobby Bonds played 14 major league seasons with eight different teams, with 332 career home runs, 1,024 RBI, and 461 stolen bases.
Dell Curry and Mychal Thompson were both standout NBA players with long careers, and their sons will likely eclipse both of them. But the greatest basketball father-son team of all time has to be Joe and Kobe Bryant. Joe Bryant spent eight seasons as an NBA forward, including a valuable contributor to those Philadelphia 76ers teams that included Julius Erving and George McGinnis. His son, Kobe, is in the discussion of the greatest NBA players in history. Steph Curry may be an MVP, but he has a long way to go to trump the Bryant family success.
In football, the title belongs to the Manning family, and they may retire it, with not one, but two Super Bowl winning quarterback sons — Peyton and Eli Manning — the offsprings of former New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning, who was the No. 2 pick overall in the 1971 NFL draft and might have had a great, instead of good, NFL career if he didn’t take such a beating as the Saints quarterback for much of his 16-year career. Between the three of them, they threw 914 NFL touchdown passes — and counting.
Finally, in hockey, the father-son duo of Bobby and Brett Hull had a combined 21 All-Star appearances, six scoring titles, three MVP Hart trophies and three Stanley Cups between them.
These family affairs can make for some bulky family scrapbooks.
• Thom Loverro is co-host of “The Sports Fix,” noon to 2 p.m. daily on ESPN 980 and espn980.com.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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