Meet the MLB brothers who did what the Kelces will do in the Super Bowl

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Much is being made this week of the familial aspect of Sunday’s Super Bowl. When the Philadelphia Eagles take the field against the Kansas City Chiefs in Phoenix, Jason Kelce will start at center for Philadelphia while younger brother Travis Kelce plays tight end for the Chiefs.

It’s a first in the NFL — having brothers compete against one another for the game’s biggest prize. But sibling competition has occasionally spiced championship contests in other major North American team sports, including in baseball’s World Series.

In fact, there have been 10 occasions, although none in the past 20 years, when brothers were on opposite sides of the competition for a major North American team sport championship.

The last time was in the 2003 Stanley Cup, when the New Jersey Devils defeated the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. New Jersey’s roster included defenseman and alternate captain Scott Niedemayer, whose brother, Rob, was a winger for the Mighty Ducks.

New Jersey won the Cup in seven games.

Prior to that, there had been four such brother meetings in the Stanley Cup, and five in the World Series. Oddly, four of the five World Series brother conflicts occurred within a window of consecutive series in the early 1920s; in the century of World Series play that has unfolded since then, it’s only happened once.

Also oddly, although there have been five brother-against-brother World Series meetings, only three sets of brothers were actually involved.

Here’s a quick recap of the MLB brothers who experienced what the Kelce brothers are about to experience when they go head-to-head for the Super Bowl this Sunday in Phoenix.

Bill Wambsganss completes his unassisted triple play in the 1920 World Series. (Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images) /

1920: The Johnstons

In the summer of 1920, Wheeler “Doc” Johnston held down first base for the Cleveland Indians. Johnston was a 33-year-old veteran in his eighth full major league season. If not one of Cleveland’s stars — the Indians, after all, had Tris Speaker and 31-game winner Jim Bagby — Johnston was a solid left-handed hitting offensive threat, who would run up a .292 batting average with 71 RBI in 147 games.

Born Sept. 9, 1887 in Cleveland, Tenn., Johnston was not, however, the only member of his family to reach the majors. In 1914, younger brother Jimmy Johnston debuted with the Chicago Cubs. Two years later, he was purchased by the Brooklyn Dodgers, arriving in Flatbush just in time to contribute to Brooklyn’s first National League championship.

The Dodgers lost the 1916 series to Boston in five games, but Jimmy emerged as a star in the process. He batted .300 — second on the team to Casey Stengel. Unlike his brother, a confirmed first baseman, Jimmy was a model of versatility. Between 1916 and 1920, he started 149 games at third base, 125 in right field, 93 in center field, 87 at second base, 65 in left field, 32 at first base, and four at shortstop.

Jimmy’s Dodgers returned to the World Series in October of 1920, seizing the league lead in early July and coasting home seven games ahead of the Giants. Wheeler’s Indians had the tougher haul, emerging from a sensational three-way race that also featured the defending champion Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees, whose new star, Babe Ruth, hit 54 home runs.

Through the final month of the American League race, the Indians never led by more than their final two-game margin over the White Sox. They also benefitted by the final-week suspension of seven of Chicago’s stars on suspicion of having fixed the previous October’s World Series.

When the brothers met for what was planned as a best-five-of-nine series, Jimmy’s Dodgers won two of the first three. But Jimmy injured a knee running the bases in Game 4 and was pulled, not appearing again in the Series.

The next afternoon’s Game 5, an 8-1 Cleveland win, remains one of the most historic in World Series history, although not for anything either of the Johnston brothers did. In the first inning, Indians outfielder Elmer Smith hit the first grand slam in World Series history. In the fourth, Bagby became the first pitcher to homer in the World Series. Then in the fifth, Cleveland second baseman Bill Wambsganss turned the only unassisted triple play in Series history.

With Jimmy nursing his injured knee and watching helplessly from the dugout, Doc delivered two base hits and scored ahead of Bagby on the pitcher’s home run. Two days later, Doc’s Cleveland team wrapped up the Series title.

Both Johnstons enjoyed full major league careers. Doc was back at first base for Cleveland in 1921, hitting .297 before being waived to Connie Mack’s Athletics in February of 1922. He retired at season’s end and died in 1961.

Jimmy continued to be a versatile fixture in Brooklyn and a Flatbush favorite lineup through 1925. Traded to the Boston Braves at that season’s end, he finished up with the New York Giants, leaving with a career .294 average. Jimmy died in 1967.

Emil ‘Irish’ Meusel, Giants outfielder.. (Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images) /

1921-23: The Meusels

The early 1920s were a heyday of brother-versus-brother warfare. One year after the Johnstons met, brothers Emil and Bob Meusel took the field for the first of three consecutive October meetings.

Emil, known as Irish, was the older brother, a 28-year-old obtained by John McGraw’s Giants from the Phillies in mid-season. A native of Oakland, Emil had batted .329 for McGraw.

Younger brother Bob was an outfielder in his second full season with the Miller Huggins-led Yankees. At 6-foot-3, Bob towered over most players including 5-foot-11 Emil, leading to his nickname, Long Bob. He could have been called that for his pop with the bat, too; in that second season Bob — hitting behind Babe Ruth in the New York order — batted .318 with 24 home runs and 138 RBI.

The 1921 World Series was closely contested, Emil’s Giants defeating Bob’s Yankees five games to three. Emil batted .345 and drove in seven runs; Bob hit just .200.

One year later, their teams qualified for a World Series re-run. But the outcome was the same, Emil’s Giants this time winning 4-0 with one tie. Big brother Emil batted .250 and drove in seven runs, but this time Bob at least had the better of the fraternal fight. He hit .300 although with just two RBIs.

The 1923 World Series marked the fourth straight year that brothers contested the title, and the third straight year that it was the Meusel bothers doing so. This time Bob’s Yankees had the upper hand, winning in six games.

Bob was a clutch force for the Yankees, driving in eight runs In the top of the eighth inning of the final game, his base hit drove home three runs and capped a 5-run rally that gave the Yanks a 6-4 win and the championship.

Emil had to content himself with a sixth inning run-producing base hit that padded the GIants’ ill-fated lead to 4-1.

Bob went on to star for several more seasons in New York, including as a prominent part of the famed 1927 Murderer’s Row. He died in 1977 at age 81. Emil retired in 1927 and died in 1963.

Clete Boyer, at third base for the New York Yankees. (Photo by Herb Scharfman/Sports Imagery/Getty Images) /

1964: The Boyers

There were three Boyer brothers, third basemen Ken of the Cardinals and Clete of the Yankees as well as pitcher Cloyd, who pitched for five seasons in the early 1950s. But as Cloyd was leaving the game in 1955, Ken was just arriving, a slugging rookie and a fixture-to-be at third base for the Cardinals.

Clete also debuted in 1955, with Kansas City, but he did not begin to blossom until the Yankees acquired him in 1959. He became a fixture at third base for New York’s run of five consecutive American League pennants from 1960 through 1964.

When the Cardinals made up five games on the Phillies over the final 10 days of the 1964 season, Ken found himself competing for the World Series opposite his brother, Clete.

The Yankees led the Series two games to one and led 3-0 in the sixth inning of Game 4 at Yankee Stadium when Ken came to the plate. His grand slam into the seats in deep left proved to be all the Cardinals need for a Series-tying 4-3 win.

In Game 7, Ken’s leadoff hit in the fourth set the stage for a three-run Cardinal rally. He doubled in the fifth as St. Louis added three more runs, then homered in the seventh as the Cardinals won the World Series.

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For the series, Ken batted only .222 but he hit two homers and drove in six runs. Clete managed only a .208 Series with one homer and three RBI.

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