MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – If Chicago White Sox manager Rick Renteria wants to get Garcia’s attention in the outfield on Friday night against Minnesota, he is going to have to be more specific.
Renteria put together a lineup of Avisail Garcia in right field, Leury Garcia in center field and Willy Garcia in left field for the series opener against the Twins, the first time in major league history that a team has started three outfielders with the same last name.
Willy and Leury Garcia are from the Dominican Republic and Avisail is from Venezuela. They are not related.
“That will be fun,” Willy Garcia, who is making his big league debut, said through a translator. “We know each other. We are Latinos. I think it’s going to be something very special.”
There have only been three games in major league history in which an outfield has been filled with players of the same name, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Brothers Felipe, Matty and Jesus Alou all appeared in the outfield for the San Francisco Giants in three games in September of 1963, but they never started together. Each time, one was added as a defensive replacement late in the game.