Like Father, Like Son: Former MLB Dads of Active MLB Players

Hockey has the Suter family, football has the Mannings and baseball had the Boones, Bells, Alous, and Bonds...take your pick.

Some families are blessed with so much talent that it's passed for one generation to another.

Even wrestling have famous families, like the Von Erich, Hart, and A'noi (Samoans) family.

Let's take a look at the dad's who provided their active sons with a "god gift" to play baseball.

Ken Griffey (Junior)

Prior to Junior's Hall-of-Fame career, Ken Sr. was a member of the Big Red Hitting Machine and made three All-Star appearances with the Reds. He ended his career compiling over 2,100 hits and a .296 batting average. 

Cecil Fielder (Prince)

The Fielders were born to be sluggers and have combined for 479 (Cecil had 319). That number should surpass 800 by the time Prince's career is completed. The Fielders are the only father-son duo to hit over 50 home runs in a season and could be the first to hit 300 or more home runs each.

Floyd Bannister (Brian)

Floyd was drafted in the first round of the '76 draft by the Houston Astros. Under Dave Duncan, he won 16 games twice with the White Sox and finished his career winning 134 games.

Jesse Barfield (Josh)

Jesse formed one of the best outfield tandems (with Lloyd Moseby and George Bell),during the 80s, as the right fielder of the Toronto Blue Jays. He won two Gold Glove awards, finished in the AL MVP Top-10 ballot twice, and led the AL in homers in 1986.

Dave LaRoche (Adam & Andy)

Dave was a fine reliever who was chosen to two All-Star games ('76 & '77) while with the Indians. He totaled 126 saves, which included a season high of 25 in '78, and a 3.53 career ERA.

Jose Cano (Robinson)

Not sure if many fans know that the current Yankees second baseman, is not only a second generation player, but was also the second Cano to be signed by New York.

Jose was signed in 1980 but release in August of that year. He then signed with Atlanta in December 1981, but again was released within a year.

After a second stint with the Braves, Jose signed with Houston in 1987. Two years later he made his debut with the Astros and started three games (six games totaled). This was his only stint in the majors.

Max Venable (Will)

Max was a bench player with the four teams (Giants, Reds, Expos, and Angels) he played for over his 12 season career. Only three times did Max exceed 200 plate appearances and finished with a .241 career batting average.

Dave Duncan (Chris & Shelly)

Dave is well known for arguably being the best pitching coach in the past 25 years. He helped to groom pitchers like LaMarr Hoyt, Richard Dotson, Mike Moore, Storm Davis, and Joel Pineiro.

As a catcher, Duncan posted a .214 batting average over 11 seasons. But he did make the All-Star team in 1971 as a member of the Athletics.  

Other proud dads include:

Tony Gywnn, Jerry Hairston, Gary Matthews, John Mayberry, Dennis Werth, Eric Young, Mickey Brantley, Ivan DeJesus, Ron Davis, Doug Drabek, and Tony Pena