Twins

My father had a maternal twin. Other than both being 6’2” they had nothing in common. My father was outgoing. My uncle was reserved.

My father was into team sports. He was a three sport star in high school. He was recruited to a Big Ten for football. After getting injured he transferred to what is now a NESCAC and played baseball. He was a fifth generation legacy admit.

My uncle was quiet and reserved. He was into individual sports. He didn’t play high school sports. He became a NASCAR driver. When he decided driving was a bit hairy he became a NASCAR official.

As adults their personalities were opposites. They didn’t like each other.

I am a father of twin 16 year old 2023's. They both have their strengths and weaknesses in a side-by-side comparison. One is 5' 8" (twin A) and the other is 5' 6" (twin B). Twin A is a better pitcher as his velocity will touch 80 while twin B is mid 70's. Twin A has only this last summer began to equal his brother in hitting. Twin B has always been a better hitter but both now stay in the .400's. Twin A is faster in the 60 with his best being 6.34. Twin B has a best of 6.89. Twin A weighs 135 and twin B weighs 150. Both have good gloves and stay in the .900 or above range in fielding. Twin A has more range and will get to balls in the air that his brother would field on the hop. Both are solid infielders with Twin A at short and Twin B at second. I have made them roll doubles so many times in practice that they can do it in their sleep. Coaches rarely play them together in the infield as they have concerns of favoritism. But their summer coach played them in the infield one game and it was fun to watch. Keep in mind they know what the other is going to do before they do it. In summer, they are generally 1 and 2 in the lineup. Which player is one and which is two is a toss up, but generally twin A is one. Twin B knows to give twin A one pitch to get to second. After that twin B swings away. It is an extreme rarity for twin A to get caught stealing any bag. Twin B gets caught about 2 out of 10 and it is generally because he gets a bad jump (video confirmed). We have video of every game since they were 5. If they are one and two in the lineup, they consistently score at least 50 % of the team runs for the game. 

Twin A pitches the rotation in the summer and generally has 7 to 10 k's per game. Twin B doesn't pitch half the number of innings, but still has 5 to 7 k's per game. Twin A has a great slider with a low 3/4 slot and twin B is over the top and has a good CB. Twin A has better control while Twin B can struggle at times. Twin B works much harder than Twin A to improve at pitching. They are very competitive. It's not like they will be pitchers in the long term, but when they are called on to pitch they want to do a good job.

Every aspect of what they do on the field is analyzed in video or in our practices on our baseball field in our front yard. Yes, we have a 325 foot somewhat regulation field minus the topographical irregularities. We also have a 16 x 70 batting cage with an Iron Mike pitching machine. They hit 5 days a week. Not bosting, just giving folks an idea of how seriously we take the game. And as everybody in this forum will tell you, short guys have a hard time playing this game beyond high school. The boys have to prove themselves every play and every at bat. They can't afford to have errors, and strikeouts have to be a rarity. The summer before last twin B had 5 strikeouts out of 47 AB's in the summer on a 16u travel team. He was 5' 4" and weighed 120. He said "I have to get better" in reviewing the year. He batted .500 for most of the season. That is his mindset. They are both driven to be the best but they know it is an uphill climb given their size.

From an academic standpoint, they both are right at or slightly above 3.7 GPA. Twin B has better math skills, but twin A works harder.     

Wow. Even Francis can’t ask questions after that response!! 😂 They both sound like special student-athletes.

My 2022 came home from helping with HS tryouts and there were two sets of (identical) twins trying out.  Notable in itself.  The the thing that blew his mind was the one set where both pitched and both had the same armslot and delivery.  He said you couldn't tell the difference between the two of them other than one had slightly longer hair. But the movements were identical.  Went on and on for 15 minutes about how "cool" it was. He never gets excited about younger kids, so this must have been exceptional. I think baseball-wise they were just average, so maybe easier to blend them.

Former MLB pitcher Alan Wirth has twin girls. They played basketball for Gonzaga through last year. Both are 6’3” forwards. Both started. They’ve always played together. They’ve always practiced together. One is now in the WNBA. One wasn’t drafted. She’s playing overseas. Why would identical twins who always practiced together have different talent levels?

From my experience, even though my boys are twins they have a different approach to several things. One is completely focused during a game and the other interacts with others. One spent a lot of time worrying about "hands" at bat and the other thought it was crazy to worry about "hands". I think even though they are a lot alike there is always an individuality. We have another set of twins on the high school team that have equal ability but each has a different approach to various aspects of the game. I think that individual thought process and approach has an effect on how they play.   

I think it comes down to the concept that it takes something special to keep excelling at the game as you get older and move up and while genetics and DNA could/might help it always comes down to that something special and you either have it or you don't. As far as naming, identifying or quantifying that something special, that's hard.  But it's the separator between no and go.

I have twins, 2022s who committed last November. Man I could write a book on this topic I think lol. So many ups and downs and different thoughts and questions ran through my head during all the years they have been playing.

Son played HS with twins. One was a fast LHH, threw left , played CF. The other was steady MI who had some pop in bat. He was a righty. Both played at Hamilton College.

I wonder how many twins go to the same college?  Particularly to play baseball?