Friday BP: A special day for the Bishop family

Thursday was a day to remember for the Bishop family. When the San Francisco Giants squared off with the Seattle Mariners in a mostly-meaningless spring game, the Bishop family was well represented.

A mid-game switch sent Hunter Bishop - the Giants first round draft pick last June - to center field. The Mariners center fielder? Hunter’s older brother Braden.

The brothers played against each other for the first time, it what was clearly a special moment, albeit a poignant one: their mother, Suzy, passed away last year after a battle with Alzheimer’s. She just missed seeing her boys share the field.

Braden, 26, is five years older than Hunter, and was drafted by Seattle in the third round in 2015. He made his MLB debut last year, appearing in 27 games.

The brotherly connection was, at some level, on display during Thursday’s game, a 4-3 Giants win. Here’s a snippet from Kerry Crowley of the Mercury News:

When San Francisco Giants prospect Hunter Bishop stole second base and saw the catcher’s throw rolling into center field, he knew everything about the outfielder he was challenging. Hunter’s older brother Braden picked up the ball, wound up to fire to third base and thought better of trying to force the ball.

Braden knew with Hunter’s blazing speed, even a perfect throw would be too late.

“I realized how long his strides are and realized I had no shot,” Braden said. “So I held onto that one.”

As soon as Hunter popped up from his slide at third base, he turned straight to the outfield.

“I was shaking the finger at him, no,” Hunter said. “He couldn’t get me. It was all fun and games, but even if he was going to throw me out, I was going to test him.”

Safe to say that was a dream come true for Hunter, Braden, and the entire family.