Seager brothers both homer in first matchup

Ten years into oldest brother Kyle’s MLB career and six seasons into youngest brother Corey’s, the Seagers finally met on the field Monday night in a bittersweet dream come true.

Kyle, the 32-year-old third baseman for the Mariners, and Corey, the 26-year-old shortstop for the Dodgers, squared off at Dodger Stadium and both had homered before the third inning was over. Parents Jeff and Jody had to watch the Dodgers' 11-9 victory on TV from their North Carolina home. That’s the bitter part.

“With all this COVID stuff, I’m sure my parents will be home watching from the couch,” said Kyle. “It’s going to be tough for them. I’ve talked to them a little bit. It’s kind of a sad day for them. They’ve been planning for this day and had a dream of this day for a while. Obviously, not being able to be here in person, I think, puts a little bit of a damper on it. I think they’re still very excited. It’s a cool moment, just wish it was under different circumstances. It’s not the party it would have been.”

So there’s just one more example of the pandemic’s disruption of an anticipated moment. But with the bitter, there’s the sweet.

The Seagers became the first brothers to homer for opposing teams in the same game since Cesar and Felipe Crespo did it for the Padres and Giants, respectively, on June 7, 2001. The last pair of brothers to homer as teammates in a game was Justin and B.J. Upton on Sept. 27, 2014, as members of the Braves.

According to Mariners research, Kyle (Gold Glove) and Corey (two Silver Sluggers) became one of four brother duos to face off after each has won either a Gold Glove or a Silver Slugger, joining Roberto and Sandy Alomar; Clete and Ken Boyer; and Bengie and Yadier Molina.

They also became the 15th set of brothers to face each other after both have been named to an All-Star team and one of 12 sets of brothers in MLB history to face each other with at least 75 home runs each.

It would have happened in 2018, but Corey missed most of that season with elbow and hip operations.

“I probably should apologize for that one, it’s probably my fault it didn’t happen sooner,” said Corey.

"I'm pretty excited,” said Kyle. “Get to see what all the hype is about. See what he’s got."

“I hope he goes off and has four hits tonight, and we still win,” said Corey. “He’s still your brother, still rooting for him and competing against him.”

Kyle ended up with three hits and a walk.

“It was hard almost to stay focused with him out there, you want to go talk to him,” said Corey. “And he’s a talker, he wanted me to go over there. You try to be in the moment as much as possible. You’re still trying to win a game. But when you got around him, it was hard to not see your brother in the opponent. Really enjoyed it, one of those things we’ll remember for a long time.”

Of course, behavior was a bit different as kids, with Corey and middle brother Justin (a former Mariners Minor Leaguer) getting pushed around.

“Kyle was a very good antagonizer,” said Corey. “He was very good at knowing what buttons to push.”

The sibling razzing hasn’t lessened, even if Kyle admits he now takes a less physical approach.

“I’m quite a bit older than them, so, of course I beat on them,” said Kyle. “I was a lot bigger. I think it was about my junior year of college, I go off and I’m bigger than them, next year they were both bigger than me. That’s when we stopped doing all the instigating and fighting. Time to mature at that point.”

Corey said the rivalry now includes side bets, Kyle usually winning for home runs, Corey for doubles.

The body types vary greatly, as Kyle is 6-foot-0, 216 pounds and Corey is 6-foot-4, 215 pounds.

“I’d take his speed,” said Corey.

“What I would take from Corey? Probably some height; I wouldn’t mind being taller,” said Kyle. “I don’t want to play shortstop. I tried that. I thought that was the dream, but it’s not. I’ll take his ability to dunk.”