A-Rod’s Nephew Joe Dunand Jr.
Via the Daily News today -
Joe Dunand Jr.’s nickname is Lil’ Joe, but you might as well call him Lil’ A-Rod.
Dunand Jr., a 13-year-old slugger, is A-Rod’s nephew. He’s also a 5-9, 140-pound spitting image of the Bombers’ third baseman.
His father, Joe Dunand Sr., is Rodriguez’s half-brother.
“He looks more like his son than mine,” Dunand Sr. said half-jokingly earlier this week as his son took batting practice at Jose Martinez’s Baseball Made Simple Academy in the Bronx. A-Rod’s nephew has a smooth, powerful swing for a 13-year-old, finishing with the same high follow-through as his uncle.
“He’s got great aptitude and he’s got nice pop in his bat,” said Martinez, who tutors some of the area’s top young players at his academy. “He picks things up quick and he works hard. Unless you tell him ’stop,’ he’s going to keep going.”
Dunand Jr. lives in Miami and usually spends his summers there, but he has been staying at his father’s place in the Bronx for the past few weeks to work with Martinez on refining his swing while playing shortstop for coach Steve Bort’s Bergen Beach 13s – the same youth team A-Rod played for as a teen.
It will be interesting to see if A-Rod and Dunand follow the Dwight Gooden/Gary Sheffield route in terms of being an uncle/nephew combo to star in baseball. Then again, this could end up like Rico Carty/Julio Santana, Dan Driessen/Gerald Perry, or Phil Niekro/Lance Niekro.
Hey, we in Yankeeland – at least most of us – remember the Larry Bowa/Nick Johnson and Gene Mauch/Roy Smalley Jr. uncle/nephew combos. But, did you know that Yankee nemesis Kevin Millar is the nephew of former big leaguer Wayne Nordhagen? I just learned that today.
And, Wayne Nordhagen was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 7th round of the 1968 amateur draft. He was later traded in 1973 by the Yankees (with Frank Tepedino, Dave Cheadle, and Al Closter) to the Atlanta Braves for Pat Dobson. So, I guess Millar has a Yankees connection, of sorts. Yuck.
I guess Millar has a Yankees connection, of sorts. Yuck.
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Make that a double yuck and you’ll be speaking for me too. Millar makes me want to vomit.
lol knowing a-rod and his thirst for drama, it’ll end up bein his son and in the media