The incredible case of the two Brady Feigls: homonyms and identical, but no relatives

Name: Brady. Surname: Feigl. Hair and beard: red. Job title: Professional baseball player, pitcher. Distinguishing features: there are two of them, identical and moreover homonymous. It’s the odd case of the two Brady Feigl, separated at birth by appearance and also by marital status, to the point that it’s hard to believe the two aren’t related, as evidenced by the DNA test they underwent. The two boys discovered the other’s existence in 2015, when one of them received a call from the voicemail of the doctor who had operated on him six months earlier, world-renowned orthopedist John Andrews: “Excuse me, Mr. Brady Feigl, when are you coming showing up for surgery? Yes, because the other Brady Feigl also had to undergo the same surgery – reconstruction of the ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow, very common among baseball professionals – and the secretary confused the two. After all, how can you blame her?

Minimal differences

The only difference between the two seems to be the middle first name as well as the date of birth: Brady Matthew Feigl was born on December 27, 1990 in Severn, Maryland, while Brady Gregory Feigl was born on November 27, 1995 in St. Louis, Missouri, nearly 900 miles away. With that call from Dr. Andrews discovered the younger of the two, then a player at the University of Mississippi, the existence of the namesake with identical characteristics, who also struggled with the same operation: the operation “Tommy John”, which takes its name from the pitcher of the Los Angeles Dodgers who suffered first in 1974. Intrigued, young Brady Feigl discovered the incredible resemblance to the namesake five years his senior in the MLB franchises: he was drafted in 2013 by the Atlanta Braves, then moved on to the Texas Rangers and San Diego Padres and currently plays with the Los Angeles Ducks , in the minor leagues. Same fate as the youngest, currently playing with the Las Vegas Aviators, a minor league team affiliated with the Oakland Athletics of MLB. Hair and beard of the same color (ginger, as they say abroad), same height (1.83), even the same glasses with identical frames: the only physical differences are weight and throwing arm, since one is left-handed and the other is right-handed. So right that even the respective teams were wrong: In 2017, the Ole Miss Rebels wished Happy Birthday to Twitter to a Brady Feigl, but it was the other one (playing with the Frisco Roughriders, in Texas at the time). He replied, rather amused, “Wrong Brady Feigl, maybe you were looking for him”, tagging the correct namesake. Not to mention the fans, who often asked for autographs on each other’s stickers at games or after training.

Research and testing

The two met online, but found no connection: even the relatives were not aware of other Feigl – surname of German origin – in the United States. Then they met in person and noticed further similarities in the way they express themselves and in their reactions to certain situations. The good career of both professionals brought the news to the national media and an episode of the cbs caused such a sensation that a sequel was needed: However, DNA has recently confirmed that it is a sensational double case of similarity and homonym, with no blood relationship. In recent days, too New York Post returned to the curious story wondering if the two Brady Feigls will ever meet on the same diamond in a game, while the Sun stressed that the two baseball players may not be an isolated case: An August 2022 study of 32 couples by Cell Reports found that people who are very similar, though not related, share some genetic similarities. The DNA of the two pitchers ruled out any relationship, but the union now goes beyond image and marital status: “Despite everything – the two Brady Feigl smiles – we still feel like brothers in a way”. Gemini, of course.