Byline: Bob Molinaro
NORFOLK -- Here's something you don't see every day. This afternoon at Harbor Park, identical twins will take the identical mound to start the identical Triple-A baseball game.
Mark Mimbs is pitching for the Norfolk Tides against Michael Mimbs of the Columbus Clippers.
In honor of the Mimbs brothers, maybe the Tides should cobble together a promotion: Double Vision Day.
Through the years, baseball has had its share of pitching duels between brothers Niekro and Perry and Mathewson. But Mark and Mike take the sibling act to a new level. These lefthanders look, speak and think alike. Their repertoire of pitches? Identical.
These are the ``Psychic Southpaws,'' so designated by the National Enquirer in a 1992 story.
The year before, the Mimbs brothers produced eerily identical statistics pitching for different Class A teams in different states.
Mark, pitching in California, won 12 games. Michael, working in Florida, won 12 games. ``And,'' said Mark, ``we had the same hits and strikeouts per nine innings.''
But for eeriness, even that can't compare with the Hallmark Moment.
That same year, Mark bought his father a birthday card in California. Meanwhile, Michael picked out a card in Florida. When their father opened his mailbox at the family's Macon, Ga., home, he found that his sons had sent ... you guessed it, identical Hallmark greetings.
``We never talked about it,'' Mark said. ``We just see things the same way.''
The Mimbs matchup is a chance for baseball fans - and no sport savors trivia more than baseball - to double their pleasure.
Twins, identical or otherwise, have never started a regular-season professional baseball game against one another. This is as far as the keepers of baseball's treasured memories (at least those who could be reached) know.
But one need not hype today's game any more than is necessary. As Mark Mimbs says, ``It's wild that we're even pitching on the same day, much less against one another.''
Once before, the two started the same game. In '96, they pitched against one another for two innings in Clearwater, Fla., in spring training.
``I struck him out,'' Michael said, ``on three pitches. An oh-two changeup.''
Even so, Mark contends, ``Most of the time, I can tell what he's going to throw.''
And say.
``If you talk to us,'' Mark notes, ``you'll hear us say the same things, talk in the same sentences.''
Says Michael, ``We've got the same voice.''
And the same interests. Both attended Mercer University in Georgia. Mark earned his degree in business administration. Michael is a couple classes away from his degree ... in business administration.
It's a twin thing. Ask Tides manager Rick Dempsey about the Mimbs brothers, and he'll recall the seasons he managed Mark in Triple-A Albuquerque. At the time, big-brother Mike, older by five minutes, was with the Philadelphia Phillies.
``All I had to do was see what his brother had done the day before and I'd know how Mark was going to pitch that night,'' Dempsey said. ``If his brother had a good day pitching for Philly, he had a good day. You talk about your ESPN.''
Not that there aren't differences in the 29-year-old twins. Mark is married, Michael single. Mark fashions a mustache and goatee, while Michael is clean shaven and a little fuller in the face.
``I talk a little more,'' Mark said. Also, ``We have different taste in a lot of things, especially girls.''
If either brother is anxious about today's game, he isn't letting on. Both gave the standard reply that they aren't really facing their brother, just nine other hitters.
They probably don't believe that themselves.
And what would each brother wish for from today's game? Asked about that, Mark ... or was it Mike, said, ``A 1-0 win would be fine.''
It's a sentiment that plays well in stereo.
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NHAT MEYER/The Virginian-Pilot
Tides pitcher Mark Mimbs, right, will be matched against twin brother Michael Mimbs of Columbus today.
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TUESDAY
TODAY
(For a complete copy see microfilm.)
