Three Hagerstown Suns Players Making Their All-Star Dads Proud

Head to a Hagerstown Suns game, and you might be able to grab a photo of MLB Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. No, he won't be throwing out a ceremonial first pitch or showing up for a media day to sign autopgraphs for fans. Instead, he'll be doing what a lot of dads do: watching his son play some baseball. 

This year, the Hagerstown Suns have a roster filled with talent, and three of those players just happen to be following in the footsteps of their well-known fathers, who made indelible marks on the game and amassed legions of fans doing so. 

Suns' first baseman Ryan Ripken is the son of Cal Ripken Jr., relief pitcher Mariano Rivera III is the son of retired Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, and infielder Cody Dent is the son of two-time World Series champ and one-time Yankee shortstop Bucky Dent.

"With their last names, Ripken, Rivera and Dent are an automatic focal point for a young Hagerstown team," says a recent story in The Herald-Mail, a local Hagerstown newspaper. "The three big-name players will be the calling card for the Suns this season. How they develop will have a definite impact on Hagerstown's success in 2016."

Read more about each of the players and their potential impact on the season here, and find out more about the Hagerstown Suns on our website, including this blog post about seven ways to enjoy the Hagerstown Suns each baseball season. Finally, for a fan perspective, read about the Suns on this local blog.