Danks brothers happy to both be with Sox

The Danks family didn't know what to think when they gathered for dinner at Mesa Rosa Mexican Restaurant outside Austin, Texas, hours after the second day of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft.

John and Renee were happy for their youngest son, Jordan, a seventh-round pick by the Chicago White Sox. They also felt he'd been slighted.

Slighted by because he wasn't a first-day pick. Slighted by agent Scott Boras, whom his father says didn't do enough to promote Jordan. Slighted because after producing big numbers in two seasons at the University of Texas, there was no immediate reward.

But Jordan's misfortune could allow John and Renee the possibility of watching their two sons play for the same major-league team.

Jordan, a 23-year-old center fielder for the Charlotte Knights, is a top prospect in the White Sox minor-league system. Through 75 games, he's batting .239 with a team-high 41 runs and 21 doubles in his first Class AAA season. He's waiting for the call from the big league. There he will join his older brother John, 25, who has a 7-6 record and 3.62 ERA in his fourth season with Chicago.

"In my wildest dreams, I never thought both would make it to the majors," their father says. "It never even crossed our minds that two brothers could be on the same team. That they were held in such high regard by the same organization is just amazing."

Brothers have been major league teammates 102 times during the past 135 years, according to Baseball Almanac. Names include Hank and Tommie Aaron (Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves), George and Ken Brett (Kansas City Royals) and Cal and Billy Ripken (Baltimore Orioles).

Jordan says he realizes the rarity of this opportunity.

"It's always been the White Sox for me," says Jordan, a second-team high school All-American who originally was drafted by the White Sox in the 19th round out of Round Rock High in Texas. "To end up in this organization, and to have my brother here, it's amazing."

Growing up in baseball

Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise if the Danks brothers become White Sox teammates.

Only 16 months apart in age, John and Jordan were inseparable growing up. That didn't change when they arrived at the ballpark.

John was on the first coach-pitch team Jordan ever played on. They played a couple of seasons together in Little League. And in John's senior year, both started at Round Rock, which fielded one of the nation's top high school teams.

"I don't think I would've gotten into baseball as hard core as I did if it wasn't for" my brother, Jordan said. "Going through high school, I really wasn't the best player my freshman and sophomore year. I saw him go through the whole draft process and thought it was awesome."

John says he and his brother talked about playing in the majors when they were younger. They never mentioned being on the same team.

"We talked about what we were going to do when we faced each other in the big leagues," John says. "I told him I was going to strike him out, and he said he was going to hit a home run."

They've only faced each other twice during a game.

The first happened in summer league after Jordan's freshman year of high school. It was a scrimmage between Jordan's younger team and John's older club.

John, who would become the ninth overall pick by the Texas Rangers in the 2003 draft, was one of the country's best pitching prospects.

Jordan struck out on three pitches.

He got payback during his senior year at Round Rock when John returned for an alumni game.

"I ended up taking John off the wall," Jordan says. "I should've been standing on second or third, but I only got a single out of it because I was just jawing at him the whole way to first. I thought I'd steal second base on the next pitch, but he pulled a quick move and picked me off.

"I always tell people I'm hitting .500 lifetime off him."

Toughness greatest attribute

Competition was part of the Danks boys' daily routine.

They battled over everything - one-on-one basketball in the driveway, who could throw the ball farther, whose turn it was to put away the laundry.

The fighting, magnified by a shared bedroom, got a little too annoying for their father one day. Jordan doesn't recall what the argument was about - "probably laundry," he says - but he remembers how his dad finished it.

"Instead of whupping us, he made us whup each other so we could get the aggression out and be punished at the same time," Jordan says. "I went first, thinking 'I'm the younger brother. If I'm nice, he will be nice.' When I get done, he takes a full hack on me.

"I told my dad I wanted another turn. He was like, 'No, you already had your turn.'"

Jordan is bigger now. He weighs the same as John (210 pounds) and is 2 inches taller (6-foot-4).

So who would win that battle today?

"He says it's him, but I guarantee you I would," Jordan says. "I always tell him, 'There's a reason you don't mess with me anymore.'"

Buddy Bell, director of the White Sox minor-league system, says Jordan shows that competitiveness every day.

"Jordan's toughness is his greatest attribute," he says. "He plays through injuries that would put most players on the (disabled list).

"It takes an act of Congress to get him out of" the lineup.

'A terrific draft pick'

The Danks' father set a bold goal for Jordan this July - hit .300 by Aug. 1.

Jordan has fought nagging injuries this season. It's shown in his subpar batting average.

"There's no reason why Jordan shouldn't be hitting .300 when he gets to the majors," says their father, a former college basketball player at Texas. "He needs to learn to get greedy at the plate. When he gets that early single in a game, he needs to learn how to bear down and turn that into a three-hit outing."

Jordan has a motivator in his father. In his brother, Jordan says, he has a "spotter" on the big league team. Jordan's brother is able to follow him through the White Sox's daily minor league reports.

He tells Jordan what the coaches say he needs to improve - from striking out less to bunting more.

"John's been here to help me out along the way, which he has for my whole career," Jordan says. "Coming into professional baseball, there were no secrets. I knew exactly what to expect just because I'd seen him go through the process."

Bell says he still can't believe Chicago was able to draft Jordan in the seventh round.

"Sometimes we forget to be patient with Jordan because he's been on such a fast track," Bell says. "He's already one of the best outfielders in baseball, including major leaguers. Now there are going to be people who hear that and say I'm (crazy), but it's a fact. Jordan is as athletic as they come, he's as instinctive as they come, and he plays as hard as anybody.

"He was a terrific draft pick."

This story was originally published July 5, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Danks brothers happy to both be with Sox."