LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The chase is getting to the point where some might consider it idealistic, nonsensical. But old dreams die hard.
Especially those that are hereditary, as they are for brothers Matt and Jason Childers.
"You're trying to accomplish something that's extremely hard to do and the percentages are against you from day one," said Terry Childers, the boys' father, who was a minor league catcher for eight seasons.
Some of the brothers' earliest childhood memories took place in a dugout, on a field or in a station wagon bound for a stadium. The romantic attachment was only natural.
"It's something we fell in love with as kids," Jason said. "Baseball was all we knew. It made us always want to do this."
And they're still doing it, still chasing the elusive major leagues. After seven seasons in the Brewers minor league system together, the two right-handed pitchers have taken separate paths.
Jason, 30, is in the Red Sox minor league camp. Matt, 26, is a non-roster invitee in the Braves' pro camp.
Matt has allowed two runs and five hits in five innings, but he had his strongest outing Tuesday against the Dodgers. He blew through his inning of work, getting a groundout and then striking out the final two batters on six pitches.
"He can spot the ball really well," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "We've liked him for a while."
As much as a team likes you, Matt said he's aware how difficult it is to crack the 25-man roster.
"It's like every spring, really," he said. "You set your sights on making the team and hope for the best."
Hopeful as they've been up until now, it hasn't been enough.
Jason entered the Milwaukee system after two seasons in junior college and two more at Kennesaw State University near Atlanta. He signed in 1997 as a minor league free agent and headed to Helena, Mont.
There he found Matt, a Augusta-Westside High grad who had been drafted by the club in the ninth round that same year.
The brothers had never played baseball together until that point - rookie ball, thousands of miles from home.
"It was kind of funny," Matt said. "The back yard was all we'd had together until then."
They helped one another with pitching mechanics, sure, but they also provided a backbone level of support that wouldn't have existed otherwise.
"We just made it easier to live," Jason said. "A lot of people got homesick, but when you're out there with your brother it helps."
That helping hand was something they became accustomed to. Matt and Jason pushed each other up the organization's ladder each year. Matt said every season Jason would receive a call-up to the next level, and he would follow along soon after.
But that last step was the hardest to come by.
Matt got up to Milwaukee once, in 2002. He struggled in his eight innings, allowing 12 runs, 13 hits and eight walks.
Jason, despite more impressive numbers, never received the final call-up.
"I never understood that," Matt said of his brother, whose ERA has been below 2.50 the past two seasons. "He deserves a chance."
That's all both are asking for now. And, they said, perhaps a new start will help that become a reality.
Hudson held out
Tim Hudson will not start today against the Pirates in Bradenton because of back stiffness, which isn't considered serious.
"We didn't want to take a chance," head trainer Jeff Porter said.
Hudson, Cox and Porter all said Hudson would have started if today was a regular-season game.
"It's not bad," said Hudson, who was scheduled to go four innings. "It's all precautionary at this point. There's no need to go out there and make things worse.
Hudson, who is scheduled to make his next start in five days, said he's unsure of the injury's origin. He did say it's entirely unrelated to the side ailment he battled last season. That injury was on his left side; the stiffness is in the middle and the right side.
Travis Haney can be reached at [email protected].
