Clearwater, Florida – Garrett Stubbs approached home plate, sharing a smile and a tap on the chest with Astros catcher C.J. Stubbs.
With his right arm around his older brother, C.J. Stubbs, it marked a significant moment for the siblings. The last time they played baseball together on the same field was during their childhood days of Wiffle ball in the front yard of their San Diego home. However, in Friday afternoon’s Grapefruit League game between the Phillies and the Astros at BayCare Ballpark, they reunited on the field, much to the delight of their parents, grandparents, and extended family.
“It meant the world to me,” expressed C.J., who spent most of the previous season with Double-A Corpus Christi. “I’ve been watching him play for 27 years. He hasn’t seen me play in five years.”
“It’s been a long time,” added Garrett.
“It’s kind of surreal to be on the same field and having that moment,” acknowledged C.J.
The Stubbs brothers narrowly missed playing together at Torrey Pines High School and again at college at USC, as they were a year apart. Their professional careers also kept them apart, with Garrett drafted by Houston in 2015 and C.J. in 2019. The pandemic further hindered their chances of playing together, and even when both played on Team Israel in the 2023 WBC, Garrett’s injury prevented them from sharing the field.
However, Friday marked their long-awaited reunion on the field.
“Getting to see him hit and me just being able to say, ‘What’s up?’ to him on a big league field like this …,” reflected Garrett.
“I was nervous on the bus ride over, I’m not going to lie,” admitted C.J. “I was more anxious for this Spring Training game than anything.”
The Stubbs brothers have always been passionate about baseball, often playing in their front yard, chasing balls downhill and occasionally breaking windows. Despite the challenges, they remained committed to their dream of playing in the big leagues.
“We’re big dreamers,” said Garrett.
“We were supposed to be on the same team,” lamented C.J.
“I kind of messed that one up,” Garrett admitted.
Their parents, Marti and T. Pat, were overcome with emotion watching their sons play together. Marti tried to film the moment but found her hand shaking with tears of joy.
“I was trying to film it, but my hand was shaking and I was crying,” she said. “And I’m not really that kind of a person. I was just taken back with all the emotion of all the years of all their hard work. It’s literally a dream come true. I can’t describe it.”
“I am that kind of a person,” added T. Pat. “I’m still a wreck.”
For the Stubbs family, watching Garrett and C.J. play together on the field was a culmination of years of dedication and determination. As Garrett stepped up to bat in the seventh inning and C.J. took the field in the ninth, it was a moment they had long awaited.
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