MLB In-Laws: Players Who Have Married Relatives of Other Players

The close bonds that MLB players often form over the course of a long season often approximate those of a family

. In a few instances, though, this bond becomes literal, when a player marries into another player’s family.

Even without digging too much into the topic, I quickly discovered that there were quite a few baseball in-law relationships.  I shouldn’t really be surprised at the large number, since so many people have played in MLB, but I was anyway.

The list below is by no means exhaustive; I just did a few Google searches (notably, a search of the Baseball-Reference domain, looking for any mentions of “in-laws”). I’m sure there are many other players who are related by marriage. If you know of any, please let me know in the comments or on Twitter (@junkstats). I’d like to keep this list as up-to-date as possible, and that includes not just additions but clarifications of the relationships (for instance, if the marriage in question ended in divorce).

All information in this post is from Baseball-Reference (especially its “Bullpen” section) or Wikipedia; I can’t vouch for its accuracy, though I have no reason to doubt it. This is meant as just a compilation of information from other sources rather than original research, but still, please let me know if anything is incorrect.

Son-in-Law / Father-in-Law

Jose Rijo

was married to Juan Marichal ‘s daughter (they are apparently divorced).

New Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine

is married to Mary Branca, the daughter of Ralph Branca (of Shot Heard ‘Round the World fame).

Former reliever Greg Booker

is the son-in-law of longtime MLB manager Jack McKeon . Booker was notoriously bad in the minors (career minor-league ERA: 5.58) but had an 8-year MLB career anyway, most of it with the Padres. In fact, it was an open secret that Booker owed his career to his father-in-law, who was the Padres’ GM for most of the 1980′s (and their manager after that). B-Ref’s Bullpen offers this revealing quote from a teammate:

[Booker's] former teammate Steve Fireovid

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 says in his book The 26th Man

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: “[His career] has to be the most blatant display of nepotism I’ve ever seen first hand.” But he adds: “Nobody held this against Greg. He was one of the more popular players on the team.” Which may explain his long coaching career after his playing days.

Hank Aaron

was married to Barbara Lucas, the sister of former Braves general manager Bill Lucas (the first African-American GM in baseball, actually).

New Cubs third baseman Ian Stewart

is married to Susan Mikulik, daughter of Stewart’s former minor-league manager, Joe Mikulik (who never made the majors but played 11 years in the minors).

Former outfielder Rondell White

is married to the daughter of former player and manager Jerry Manuel .

Zack Segovia

, a pitcher who appeared briefly in MLB with the Phillies in 2007 and the Nationals in 2009, is the son-in-law of Darnell Coles , a former MLB utility player.

All-Star second baseman Don Blasingame

married Sara Cooper, Miss Missouri 1957 and the daughter of veteran catcher Walker Cooper , Blasingame’s teammate with the Cardinals.

Former shortstop Roy Smalley

 (II) married Jolene Mauch, sister of former infielder and renowned manager Gene Mauch . Smalley and Mauch grew up together playing sandlot ball in Los Angeles. Smalley and Jolene had a son, Roy Smalley III , who himself became a longtime MLB player.

Mike Bruhert

, a former MLB pitcher, was married to Irene Hodges, daughter of Dodgers legend Gil Hodges . They have since divorced.

Harley Grossman

, a pitcher who appeared in one MLB game (with a career ERA of 54.00), was the father-in-law of Harry Spilman , a bench player in the 1980′s.

OBP machine and JunkStats favorite

Eddie Stanky married the daughter of Milt Stock , MLB record-holder for recording 4 hits in 4 straight games.

Catcher Bill Warwick

married the daughter of another catcher, early 20th-century player George Gibson .

Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma

, who recently signed with the Mariners (after failing to agree to a contract with the A’s through the posting system the previous year) is the son-in-law of Koju Hirohashi , a longtime utility man in NPB (the Japanese major leagues).

Brothers-in-Law

Steve Finley

and Brady Anderson are listed as brothers-in-law, though I can’t seem to find which one married the other’s sister (or which pair of sisters they married).

Diamondbacks manager and former World Series hero Kirk Gibson

is a brother-in-law of his former teammate, pitcher Dave Rozema . Gibson and Rozema married JoAnn and Sandy Sklarski (respectively) in a double ceremony in 1985.

Former infielder Todd Walker

and Chad Hutchinson (who had a cup of coffee for the Cardinals in 2001) are brothers-in-law. Hutchinson married Walker’s sister. After playing in MLB, Hutchinson went on to play quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears.

Rookie of the Year winner Todd Hollandsworth

is married to Marci Herges, sister of Matt Herges , a pitcher who was Hollandsworth’s teammate on the 2000 Dodgers.

Star knuckleball pitcher (and bowling Hall of Famer) Tom Candiotti

and infielder Brad Wellman are brothers-in-law, though I don’t know their exact relationship.

1981 Indians teammates Andre Thornton

and Pat Kelly , each of whom had long, productive careers, were brothers-in-law.

Gold Glove-winning outfielder Rick Miller

married Janet Marie Fisk, sister of his Red Sox teammate, Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk .

All-Star right fielder Tom Brunansky

and his Twins teammate, catcher Dave Engle , are brothers-in-law, though again I’m not sure in which way.

Mel Queen

, an outfielder-turned-pitcher and JunkStats favorite , married and divorced the sister of his childhood friend, All-Star pitcher Jim Lonborg .

Tom Hutton

, a reserve 1st baseman in the 1970′s, married Debbie Ruthven, sister of Dick Ruthven , a two-time All-Star pitcher.

Cliff Johnson

, a DH from the ’70s and ’80s, married Brenda Easler, sister of Mike Easler , an outfielder and Astros teammate.

Longtime Tigers backstop Bill Freehan

is married to Patricia O’Brien, sister of former MLB pitcher Dan O’Brien .

Knuckleballer Bob Purkey

and his Redlegs teammate Charlie Rabe were brothers-in-law.

Colombian shortstops Orlando Ramirez

and Jackie Gutierrez are brothers-in-law.

Milt May

‘s wife, Brenda, is the sister of Pat Osburn .

Early 20th century Hall of Fame outfielder Fred Clarke

was married to one Annette Gray. One of Annette’s sisters was married to longtime MLB pitcher Chick Fraser , making Fraser and Clarke brothers-in-law.

19th-century pitcher Scott Stratton

was brothers-in-law with Bill Anderson , who appeared in one MLB game in 1889. I am not sure of their exact relationship.

Multiple Relationships

Former major league bench player Dennis Werth

married Kim Schofield, the daughter of “Ducky” Dick Schofield and brother of Dick Schofield , both MLB infielders for many years. Dennis Werth is the stepfather of Kim’s son from a previous marriage, Jayson , who took Werth’s last name and is now the Nationals’ starting right fielder.

The last 30-game-winner in MLB, Denny McLain

(a Cy Young & MVP winner) is married to the daughter of Lou Boudreau , the Hall of Fame shortstop. Boudreau’s daughter (whose name I can’t find) was also the widow of Ken Hubbs , a Rookie of the Year Award-winning 2nd baseman who died tragically in a plane crash at the age of just 22.

Tigers utility man Don Kelly

is married to Carrie Walker, the daughter of former MLB pitcher Tom Walker and sister of Pirates 2nd baseman Neil Walker . Tom Walker’s sister also married his teammate Chip Lang , so Lang is Neil Walker’s uncle. Lang is thus also the brother-in-law of Don Kelly’s father-in-law. Quite a family reunion these folks must have.

Hall of Fame player / manager / owner Clark Griffith

had connections to two longtime MLB players. All-Star pitcher Joe Haynes married Griffith’s adopted daughter Thelma, and Hall of Fame shortstop Joe Cronin (also a manager, GM, and longtime president of the American League) married Griffith’s niece.

Roland Hemond

, an MLB executive and former GM of the White Sox and Orioles, married into the Quinn family of baseball executives. Hemond’s grandfather-in-law was Bob Quinn , his father-in-law was John Quinn , and his brother-in-law is Bob E. Quinn , all of them former MLB GMs.

Pitcher and White Sox GM John Rigney married Dorothy Comiskey, granddaughter of former pitcher and longtime White Sox owner Charlie Comiskey

, making Rigney related by marriage to 3 generations of White Sox ownership.