You may not know it, but Jonathan Lucroy isn't the only Lucroy in Wisconsin playing baseball. His younger brother, David, is a pitcher for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and he's out to make a name for himself.
David Lucroy may look like his brother...
“Yeah, yeah I have to keep mine tighter than his, minor league rules. Just know that this off season I will beat him in the beard-off.”
“No, no his isn't better than mine,” Jonathan said with a smile. “You're not going to get any better than this.”
...And David may play baseball like his brother, but it's Jonathan who gets all the attention.
“I'm trying to get to the point where people ask him if he's my brother, ‘Oh my gosh, are you David Lucroy's brother?’ Yeah,” David explained.
And like a good big brother, Jonathan has acted as David's mentor, most of the time.
“He's a big kid now but I used to hang him from the fence post by his underwear,” Jonathan described. “He won't tell you that but I did when he was real little. I'm six years older than him. I used to beat him up and now he could probably beat me up.”
“We have a good relationship,” Jonathan added. “We have a lot in common and we have very similar personalities so he and I get along really well… I try to impart the knowledge that I've had upon him and help him out as best I can and be successful.”
“The biggest thing he's ever given me is he's challenged me to make a name for myself,” David explained. “I think it’s valuable because he does understand that there's no avoiding the fact that there is somewhat of a shadow, especially since I play here in Wisconsin, and so his challenge to me is to do exactly what I said and make people ask him if he's my brother, so that's his challenge to me.”
And David is up for the challenge. The 23-year old is in his first season with the Timber Rattlers and is on his own baseball journey. He hopes the last stop will be the big leagues, but that doesn't necessarily mean playing with his brother.
“I have a dream to play,” he said. “If I got to play with him that'd be sick, that'd be fun. I'd love to throw to him, but it doesn't matter where I play. I just want to play.”
And it's the baseball in his blood that will get him there.
“You're never satisfied and that's what makes a baseball player the best he can be to never be satisfied with good enough,” David said. “There's no such thing as good enough. There's always you can be better.”
Even if it means one day being better than his brother.
