BALTIMORE (AP) \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
A doubleheader Wednesday meant Austin \u2014 who in addition to being Tyler’s identical twin is also an umpire \u2014 was on his way to Baltimore to work the games alongside his brother.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is something we\u2019ve dreamed about forever,\u201d Tyler Jones said. “We were told last year, \u2018OK, if we can make it happen, we\u2019ll make it happen.\u2019 And it didn\u2019t. The schedules didn\u2019t align. Even this year we weren\u2019t even sure if it was going to happen or not, and then it was kind of a shock.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/a> and Tyler was at second. Then they swapped for the nightcap<\/a> \u2014 although the numbers on their uniforms were the only easy way to tell them apart.<\/p>\n 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 of absence. There are typically five umpires on a crew for a doubleheader instead of four, so Austin Jones was added.<\/p>\n Austin umpired his first major league game in 2024, Tyler in 2025. They’d worked a game together in the Gulf Coast League and the Arizona Fall League, but never in the majors.<\/p>\n \u201cWe talk to each other daily, especially about baseball and about everything, what we go through on a day-to-day basis,” Tyler Jones said. “But to be able to live it together, and come to the ballpark and see him in the locker room and play cards with him before the game and share that experience was probably the best part.\u201d<\/p>\n The Jones twins have joined a small group of umpiring families in big league history. There have been fathers and sons, such as Harry and Hunter Wendelstedt, and brothers, such as John and Mark Hirschbeck.<\/p>\n Tyler Jones jokes that he got into umpiring because \u201cI was a really bad baseball player.\u201d<\/p>\n They certainly started young, working youth games and earning some money when they were in high school.<\/p>\n \u201cBaseball was what we ate, slept or thought of every single moment of the day,\u201d Austin Jones said. \u201cBut it was to the point, I guess, after umpire school. We did umpire school together, and we roomed together. We had never really lived on our own, we were 18 years old. So it was our first time out of the house, doing things on our own, and we said, \u2018Man, if this is kind of what life in professional baseball is like, this is pretty cool.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The Jones brothers had their parents, wives and Austin’s kids at the games Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was cool to look over, and that\u2019s something my wife told me,\u201d Austin said. \u201cShe was like, \u2018Hey, when you\u2019re out there, obviously you\u2019re looking at your partners every pitch every play, but take a second and look at him not as just the guy working first base, your partner. Look at him as your brother.\u2019 So I did that a little bit moreso tonight, the second game.\u201d<\/p>\n