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05/22/2008 10:43 AM ET
Mitchells enjoying friendly sibling rivalry
Carolina, Jacksonville third basemen find brotherly opposition in SL
By Tim Britton / MLB.com
Lee Mitchell's Carolina Mudcats won four of five games in their first series against Russell Mitchell's Jacksonville Suns in April. (Jerry Hale/MLB.com)

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It seems like the old days for Lee and Russell Mitchell, when the brothers spent nearly every day in their Georgia yard playing catch and wiffle ball. That's because for the second series in two weeks, the third basemen find themselves in opposite dugouts as Lee's Carolina Mudcats host Russell's Jacksonville Suns.

"It's crazy. It seems like every time we turn around we're playing him again," Russell said.

Not that either brother minds. After all, they've embraced friendly competition since they were kids. Both were quick to point out that their sibling rivalry remained mostly cordial, with those games in the yard never getting too intense. That, of course, didn't stop them from wanting to win.

"It was always a competition, but whoever won just won," Lee said. "And then we wanted to play again."

After playing together in the yard, Lee, 26, and Russell, 23, got the chance to suit up together for one year in high school. At the time, Lee was a senior shortstop while Russell was a sophomore manning the hot corner. When Lee moved on to the University of Georgia, he left Russell with some big shoes to fill.

The chance came for Russell to follow his brother to Athens two years later, but he passed on the offer. That's because, like his older brother, he had been selected in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft. Lee was drafted in the sixth round by the Florida Marlins while Russell was chosen in the 15th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"It was awesome. We were together as a family," Russell said. "It was a big deal for our family, and it was just a proud day for everybody, especially Mom and Dad."

After that, however, their careers diverged. Lee started off in Class A while Russell spent a year in the Gulf Coast League. The two briefly overlapped in the Florida State League in 2004 and 2005, but now are getting the chance to compete against each other more often.

And while they both cherish the time they get to spend with one another, these series have their downsides.

"It's good to play against him, besides the fact that he took some hits from me earlier in the year," Lee Mitchell said. "I'll have to pay him back for that."

"I told him to stop hitting it to me," Russell said with a laugh. "I snagged him down the line [in the last series]. It might have been one of the best plays I've ever made."

Even though he has no problem with robbing his brother, Russell admits that he sometimes finds himself pulling a little for Lee.

"It's tough. My stomach always churns when he's hitting," Russell said. "You want him to do good, and on the other hand, you want to win."

Lee came out on top in the first series, as he went 4-for-5 with five RBIs in the opener and the Mudcats took three of five from the Suns. But if the older brother ever wants to brag, Russell can just remind him which Mitchell is hitting over .300.

"It's my first year in Double-A, I always joke around with him about that. But he's played in this league before and put up good numbers, so I'm just trying to follow in his footsteps," Russell said.

Russell will be following his brother again this week, as Lee will show him around Eastern Carolina. With an off-day preceding the series, the Mitchell brothers had dinner at Outback Steakhouse Tuesday night, and Russell was looking forward to getting together to play X-Box some time during the week.

But even when the two aren't sharing an Awesome Blossom or some Halo, they still make sure they talk almost every day.

"We can talk about things because we go through the same things every day, like slumps, pitchers and stuff like that," Lee said. "It's nice to have somebody else to talk to and see how they got out of a slump or how they did a certain thing. ... We pretty much know what the other one's doing wrong if they're doing something wrong. So we can help each other out."

That is, until one of them sends a sharp liner down the third-base line.

"If we have to dive to rob one another of a hit, then that's what we'll do," Lee said.

Tim Britton is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.