Best Brother Combos, Offense

My subjective opinion, based on preceding lists, for best pairs of brothers who were position players:

1. Paul and Lloyd Waner. No competition, really. "Big and Little Poison" are the only two to be members of Hall of Fame. Dominate every category except home runs and steals.

2. Joe and Dom DiMaggio. Both careers were cut short by WWII, and neither played through to age 40. But in their prime, they were great--Joe with the power, both with the run-scoring and hitting. Third brother Vince was famous only for his strike out totals (modest by today's standards, but in his time, unheard of).

3. Ed and Jim Delahanty. An oddity, in that, because Ed was almost 12 years older, Jim had only played 24 unimpressive games before his star big brother was tragically killed at age 35. Jim went on to a solid career as a starter at many positions. His best year was 1911: .339 avg, 83 runs, 184 hits, 14 triples and 94 RBI. Not as good as his late brother (whose .346 career average and .505 career slugging in an era when NOBODY slugged over .500 for their career earned a Hall of Fame berth), but still pretty good for the "deadball" era.

4. Roberto and Sandy Alomar. Roberto was headed for 3000, maybe 3500+ hits before injuries pushed him to hang it up early at age 36 with 2724 and a .300 career average, along with over 1500 runs, 500 doubles and 200 homers, and 474 stolen bases. Sandy took a beating as a catcher, but hung in there for 20 seasons, with a best in 1997 of .324, 37 2B, 21 HR and 83 RBI in just 451 AB. Both boys no doubt made Puerto Rican papa, Sandy Sr. proud (he was a decent defensive infielder for 15 season in the majors, bu his offense was nothing to write Cooperstown about).

5. Bob and Roy Johnson. Neither is that well known today (their common names kind of get lost in the crowd), but both had solid, though somewhat shortened, careers. Bob had power (288 HR and 1283 RBI in only 13 seasons, with 8 years 100+ RBI, including 7 straight!) Older brother Roy scored 100 three times and knocked in 100 once in a solid (.296 career avg.) 10-year career.

6. Ken and Clete Boyer. One of few brother combos where both were legitimate power threats. Although Ken was 6 years older, they both broke into the bigs in 1955, Clete at age 18. Ken hit 23+ homers 8 times (7 in a row); Clete had a high of 26 homers and 96 RBI in 1967, just as his brother's perennial all-star career was on the decline. Third brother Cloyd was a pitcher.

7. Felipe and Matty Alou. Felipe had some power (206 HR, with high of 31) as well as batting .316 or higher three times; Matty was strictly a singles hitter, and a good one (.307 career average). Finished 1-2 in batting in 1966 (and 2-3 in 1968). Third brother Jesus was a pinch hitter extraordinaire late in his career. Felipe's son Moises has outdone them all.

8. Joe and Luke Sewell. Hall-of-Famer Joe was a career .312 hitter and by far the hardest player to strike out in the history of baseball (once every 100 AB in almost 4800 AB from 1925-33: once in ten at bats is considered darn good today). He also knocked in 95 RBI a year from 1921-1927 while hitting fewer than 3 HR per year! Little brother Luke wasn't expected to produce a lot offensively as a catcher, and went on to manage the lowly Browns to their only pennant.

9. Emil and Bob Meusel. Each led league in RBIs: Emil ("Irish") in the NL in 1923 with 125; Bob in the AL in 1925 with 138. Faced off against each other in three straight subway (World) Series in the Big Apple from 1921-23, with Irish's Giants prevailing in the first 2, but Bob's "Murderer's Row" Yanks starting their dynasty in the 3rd. Bob topped 100 RBI 5 times in 11 seasons; Emil did so 4 years in a row (1922-25) among 9 full seasons.

10. Lee and Carlos May. Lee was a solid slugger, knocking in 80+ runs 11 straight years (1968-78) and retiring with 354 HR; Carlos looked to be headed for similar success, a two-time all-star at age 24, but his career petered out before age 30.

I did not include many combos, who ranked high in the lists I compiled, where one star brother accounted for a huge share of the combined totals (Aarons, Ripkins, Wagners and Murrays, etc.)