Jacob, Jack Wilson join exclusive father-son All-Star club

WEST SACRAMENTO -- The exclusive club of All-Star father-son duos is gaining a new pairing this season.

With Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson being voted into the 2025 All-Star Game as the starting shortstop for the American League, he will join his father, Jack Wilson, as only the 21st father-son duo of players to become All-Stars in Major League history, per the Elias Sports Bureau, joining baseball royalty such as the Griffeys (Ken Jr. and Ken Sr.), the Bonds’ (Barry and Bobby) and the Fielders (Prince and Cecil).

The select list shrinks even significantly when you sort it by position -- Jacob and Jack are the first-ever father-son duo to both become All-Star shortstops.

“That’s something that is special for me,” Jacob said. “I got to go to my dad’s All-Star Game as a kid and got to experience it. Now he gets to come and support me at mine. It’s pretty special for us to have that father-son All-Star connection. We’re super blessed.”

Jack’s Midsummer Classic experience came in 2004 as a member of the Pirates. He appeared in the All-Star Game at then-Minute Maid Park in Houston that year as a defensive replacement for Cardinals shortstop Edgar Renteria and went hitless in two at-bats.

Beyond the game, what Jack remembers most about that All-Star week is carrying a 2-year-old Jacob around with him in his arms everywhere for the festivities, from the workouts to the Home Run Derby.

“It’s pretty special,” Jack said. “I think about him being with me on the field during the Home Run Derby in 2004. Him being a little guy sitting with me and Sean Casey and his son. Now, fast forward about 20 years later and he’s going to be out there doing the same thing.”

For Jacob, it will be yet another career milestone that intertwines with his father. Atlanta is where Jacob watched Jack spend the final two seasons of his Major League career with the Braves from 2011-12. When Jacob was drafted by the A’s in 2023, the MLB Draft that year took place in Seattle, where Jack played three seasons with the Mariners from 2009-11.

“He was 10 or 11 years old on the field a lot wearing his little Braves uniform that he had,” Jack said. “He’d come out and work out with us. It’s pretty cool. He got drafted in Seattle and I played in Seattle. He’s going to the All-Star Game in Atlanta and I played in Atlanta. He’s heading to Pittsburgh in September and I played there. Just a really cool last couple of years for him and the family to come full circle with all these places that we spend a lot of time in.”

While Jack carved out a solid 12-year career in the big leagues, Jacob might just take the Wilson family name to the next level with his quick emergence as a budding young star. The rookie sensation has achieved national recognition for his elite hitting prowess and remains the odds-on favorite to win AL Rookie of the Year.

Even teammates like Brent Rooker, who will be joining him in Atlanta as the second A’s All-Star representative, can’t help but marvel at the magic produced by the bat of Wilson, who has been on Yankees star Aaron Judge’s tail for top batting average in the Majors for most of this season.

“He’s an anomaly in a lot of ways,” Rooker said of Wilson. “He’s not something that I can relate to at all. His gifts are things that I don’t do well. I don’t really understand how he does what he does, but I think that’s what makes him so special and fun to watch.

“It’s elite bat-to-ball skills. Elite hand-eye coordination. He controls the strike zone well, and even when he doesn’t control the strike zone, he’s able to make contact, which is a pretty special skill. To be able to do the type of things that he does at such a young age is super impressive, and I think it bodes well for him to have a very long and successful career.”