Identical twin brothers team up to umpire their first MLB doubleheader

BALTIMORE — Tyler Jones umpired the first game of this week’s Blue Jays-Orioles series, then was napping the next day. His brother Austin called and told him the middle game of the series was rained out.

A doubleheader Wednesday meant Austin — who, in addition to being Tyler’s identical twin, is also an umpire — was on his way to Baltimore to work the games alongside his brother.

“This is something we’ve dreamed about forever,” Tyler Jones said. “We were told last year, ‘OK, if we can make it happen, we’ll make it happen.’ And it didn’t. The schedules didn’t align. Even this year we weren’t even sure if it was going to happen or not, and then it was kind of a shock.”

The 31-year-old twins called both ends of Wednesday’s doubleheader, each won by Baltimore by a 4-2 score. Austin worked first base in the opener and Tyler was at second. Then they swapped for the nightcap — although the numbers on their uniforms were the only easy way to tell them apart.

The two are on a list of Triple-A call-up umpires who fill in at the big league level for injuries, illnesses, vacations and other reasons…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports