The memory would resonate for any young, impressionable baseball fan: a first visit with dad to that pantheon of pinstripes, old Yankee Stadium in New York.
Yet few can claim a fatherly feat like Travis Driskill.
“He struck out [Derek] Jeter three times,” Tanner Driskill recalled with a grin.
Driskill, a reliever who was promoted to High-A Wilmington last week, is one of four current or former Fredericksburg Nationals who are the sons of former major leaguers. Shortstop Jake Boone, left fielder Jake Randa, and reliever Davis Moore are likewise following in their fathers’ footsteps by pursuing a professional baseball career.
Of that group, Boone owns the household name. His father Bret, a three-time Gold Glove award winner, is himself a third-generation MLB legacy. Boone’s uncle, Aaron, manages the New York Yankees, while his grandfather, Bob, works in the Washington Nationals front office as a senior advisor to the general manager.
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To claim Boone grew up on a baseball field wouldn’t be hyperbole. As a youngster, he attended almost every home game when Bret Boone played for the Seattle Mariners.
Wiffle ball on the Safeco Field turf was a common occurrence (the situation almost always: bases loaded, bottom of the ninth). And, if the Mariners won, players’ kids were admitted to the clubhouse to join in on the celebration.
“You can’t help but fall in love with the game,” Jake Boone said. “Just being brought up in that atmosphere, around the game, you really can’t help it. That’s how I fell into this.”
Over Father’s Day weekend, Travis Driskill finally had the chance to witness Tanner pitch for the FredNats. From his seat along the third-base line, the elder Driskill dialed in a poker face as Tanner jogged in from the bullpen with Fredericksburg trailing the Lynchburg Hillcats, 4-1.
As Tanner settled in, recording 1.2 scoreless innings of relief, Travis realized that he hadn’t just passed down his genes (and an uncannily similarly three-quarter arm angle) but also a lifelong education in the game. He believes the Nationals organization is wise to consider a player’s background when the draft rolls around.
“I think it can speed up the learning curve for that guy,” said the elder Driskill, who started 19 games for the Baltimore Orioles in 2002. “They’ve been so exposed to it. Obviously they were still small, but they picked it up and they’ll remember it.”
Baseball bloodlines don’t translate to instant success, however. Through his first 24 games as a professional, Boone is hitting just .190 with 22 strikeouts. Randa, whose father Joe bounced among half a dozen teams during an 11-year MLB career, has posted a similarly mediocre .195 batting average, though he does lead the FredNats with 20 RBIs.
“Sometimes, the kids are kind of trying to stay under that umbrella of the dad,” FredNats manager Mario Lisson said. “We’re trying to make them comfortable and understand they have to do their own thing; they have to work.”
Boone, who graduated from Princeton in May with a degree in economics, said he never felt pressured to enter the family business. Similarly, he doesn’t feel burdened by his dad’s accomplishments.
Or those of his uncle. Or his grandfather. Or his great-grandfather (Ray Boone, a two-time American League All-Star in the 1950s).
“My path in baseball has been so natural,” Jake Boone said. “I never felt like I needed to do this …. Obviously, those things come up. I know people know who my family is.
“The way I think about it is: This is my path. I know they’re all here to support me, but I’ve never worried about comparisons or anything.”