It’s a special day for any family when a son gets called up to play his first Major League Baseball game, and another special day when he hits his first MLB home run. But what if those happened on the same day, to different sons?
That’s what happened to the Heineman family on Tuesday.
Older brother Scott Heineman, an outfielder for the Texas Rangers, hit his first career homer at Yankee Stadium. Meanwhile in Pittsburgh, younger brother Tyler Heineman made his Major League debut.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2019
Congrats to my brother @theineman13 for making his MLB debut tonight!!!
Before today, in the history of this game only 395 sets of brothers can say they played in the MLB!! Today my brother and I can say we are #396 #special #grateful @MLB
— SCOTT HEINEMAN (@ScottHeineman) September 5, 2019
Mom and Dad make a choice
The Heineman parents, Steve and Kathy, made the journey to Pittsburgh to watch Tyler suit up for his first game. That means they missed Scott’s home run, of course, but how can you know where to be?
Tyler, for his part, didn’t get into the game in Pittsburgh.
It was a special day nonetheless, especially because Steve and Kathy grew up in New York.
“It’s something you dream of,” Scott said, according to Yahoo Sports. “And for it to happen here, it’s just funny how the world works. My dad’s side of the family was all in the stands [in New York] tonight.”
Big day in the Heineman family. Tyler called up to the majors, joining brother Scott. Tyler went to Windward and UCLA. Scott went to Crespi and Oregon.
— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) September 3, 2019
The lost home run ball?
The day was almost soured because the Rangers had trouble locating Scott’s home run ball. He hit it into the Yankee Stadium bleachers, where the usual chants of “Throw it back!” led to a ball being thrown onto the outfield.
A ball boy picked it up and tossed it into the right-field stands, with the Rangers panicking that they might not be able to get Heineman his special keepsake.
As it turned out, the ball thrown onto the field was a decoy, and the real ball was safely in the hands of 15-year-old Ryan Kindler. He reached out to the team and was able to get the ball to Scott in exchange for a signed ball and bat.
All’s well that ends well. Especially Tuesday in the Heineman family.
(h/t Yahoo Sports)
Heineman’s payback for the home run ball pic.twitter.com/500uXOjbcZ
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) September 4, 2019
