Jemile Weeks steps from brother Rickie’s shadow

PHOENIX — A couple of times every week during the baseball season, Oakland Athletics second baseman Jemile Weeks will catch up via phone with older brother Rickie of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Of course, Jemile has been playing catch-up with his older brother his entire life. And it always seemed that wherever Rickie went, Jemile figured to be there sooner or later.

Second base on the diamond first-round pick in the amateur draft and, as of June, a starter in the major leagues.

Their age gap of four years and four months kept Jemile from playing at the same level with Rickie, but it didn't stop him from trying.

"We competed a lot," Jemile recalls of their childhood in Altamonte Springs Fla., "from Wiffle Ball to throwing the tennis ball out front, just me and him, trying to strike each other out from about 40feet away throwing as hard as we can. We did all of that."

Fast-forward a little more than a decade later, and Jemile is forging his own identity as the A's full-time starter and leadoff man. In fact, the younger Weeks might be on a faster big-league track, as it took Rickie five seasons to become a consistent major league producer; in 2011, his sixth season, Rickie was an All-Star.

Drafted 12th overall in 2008, Jemile advanced quickly and was hitting .321 with 10 steals in 45games with the Class AAA Sacramento River Cats last season when he got the call to the majors.

In less than two weeks the A's made him their leadoff hitter. In less than three weeks, they traded longtime second baseman Mark Ellis. And after his first month, Weeks was hitting .309.

But just as it was playing in the backyard with his older brother, things didn't come easily.

"The biggest difference is the rate at which (pitchers) make adjustments," Weeks says. "When I felt like I was finally starting to feel better, they immediately switched things up. They understand what your weaknesses are really fast."

Still, Weeks finished his rookie year in Oakland with a .303 average and 22 stolen bases in 97 games. He'll be back in the leadoff spot again this season for a team that finished 12th out of 14 American League teams in scoring.

But before Weeks arrived, the A's averaged 3.6 runs a game. After he was called up, they averaged 4.2 a game.

"I take it upon myself to be a table-setter ," he says.

Now, when Jemile and Rickie talk on the phone, it's not so much competition they share, but encouragement.

"Motivate each other and keep each other confident," Jemile says.

But there's one thing his older brother has done that Jemile hasn't — go to the playoffs. Unless you count going with the entire Weeks family to watch Rickie in last year's National League Division Series.

While the A's might be playoff long shots for the foreseeable future, the Weeks' pattern suggests Jemile might follow in his brother's footsteps one more time.


(usatoday.com)