Gerrit Cole married Brandon Crawford's sister, Amy, in 2015. The three All-Star Games they have appeared in together, including this year in Colorado, have turned into "a family thing," Cole said.
Brandon Crawford and Gerrit Cole, baseball star brothers-in-law, have faced off before. They’ve also appeared on the same All-Star team. But with Crawford’s resurgence this season in San Francisco and Cole’s All-Star nod with the Yankees, the duo has another shot at a unique family memory: squaring off in the midsummer classic.
OK, it probably won’t happen. Crawford likely won’t receive more than one at-bat and Cole a single inning on the mound. This is an exhibition, after all.
But that hasn’t stopped them from turning All-Star weekend into a Crawford-Cole family outing, according to Gerrit, who married Brandon’s sister, Amy, in 2015.
“It’s a special game for us. We’re really blessed to be able to do this,” Cole said Monday in an interview with MLB Network Radio. “Brandon and I try to make this a family event every time we come.”
Gerrit and Amy’s first child, Caden, was born last June. Brandon and his wife, Jalynne, have two sons and two daughters.
“We just kind of get the kids together in the hotel room and let them run wild,” Cole said in the interview. “We don’t get to see them as much anymore during the summer because now I’m on the East Coast and in the American League. It’s probably the only time I get to see my nieces and nephews until the season is over, so I just try to take advantage of that and make it a family thing.”
A few of Crawford’s little ones were spotted hanging with Uncle Gerrit and his pal, Aaron Judge, during the Home Run Derby on Monday.
Gerrit Cole and Aaron Judge with Gerrit's niece and nephews, Brandon Crawford's kids. pic.twitter.com/5tIzHc1Ley
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) July 13, 2021
When Cole faced scrutiny for an outburst on the mound in a spring training game this year, Crawford came to his defense.
“I don’t always defend pitchers, but when I do, it(‘s) my brother in law,” Crawford wrote on Twitter.
I don’t always defend pitchers, but when I do, it my brother in law
— Brandon Crawford (@bcraw35) March 11, 2021
The brothers-in-law had a chance to face each other in the 2018 All-Star Game, but Cole didn’t make an appearance.
The two were teammates on the National League All-Star team in 2015.
In the regular season, Crawford has faced Cole 20 times with six hits to show for it (a .300 average). Cole has struck him out five times.
In their last meeting, May 22, 2018, Crawford singled off Cole in his first at-bat, then took him deep into the left-field seats. But the Astros finished with the upper hand, an 11-2 win that evening.
