Lowe brothers reunion means even more after passing of mother

CINCINNATI -- Before Friday’s game at Great American Ball Park, Josh and Nathaniel Lowe had a family reunion of sorts. It happened as the Reds concluded their batting practice and the Angels were about to take theirs.

Mike Trout even joined in the conversation. No doubt good times were shared.

But it was also a significant one as the two were facing off in a regular season game for the first time since their beloved mother, Wendy, passed away in March at the age of 60 from glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

“A lot of people with her type of cancer are gone a whole lot sooner,” Nathaniel Lowe told MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon in March. “So for her to give it 33 months of fight was something pretty special. But at the end of the day, I’m happy she’s done hurting. I’m glad she can rest. She gave us a great life and she was a great mom. You can’t really ask for a lot more other than that.”

Hours after uttering those words, Lowe played in a spring game vs. the Dodgers, and belted a towering three-run home run.

Prior to the Angels' 10-2 win over the Reds on Friday, the two brothers Wendy so proudly cheered on when they came up together with the Rays at different times were together again on a big league diamond.

David Lowe, the father of the Lowe brothers, was on hand Friday, along with friends and family at Great American Ball Park.

“Yeah, he's doing OK,” Josh Lowe said of his father before the game. “He's excited to be here and see his two sons playing [in] the big leagues, and it's gonna be a great night.”

As for their conversations when they’re together?

“I mean, now we keep it light,” Josh said. “Talk a little baseball here and there, but just more being back with your family and hanging out with your family.”

Josh left no doubt that he and Nathaniel keep close tabs on each other’s success.

“Oh, yeah, all of it,” Josh added. “Yeah, I'm always watching to see if he's playing or not, and I know he's doing the same, because he'll text me after games and stuff like that. But yeah, I mean, it's your family and you check up on them and see how they're doing.”

Both would like better numbers now. Josh homered in the sixth inning Friday but came in batting .091 (3-for-33) with one home run and three RBIs in 12 games. Nathaniel entered batting .214 with no home runs and two RBIs in seven games.

But the bottom line is both brothers, always with proper perspective thanks to their mother, were able to share a moment pregame.

“I think that's really cool,” said Angels skipper Kurt Suzuki, the father of two boys. “I never played against Josh. I played against his brother, Nathaniel, a lot [when he was in] Texas. I think it's really cool.

“I’d love to see my kids play against each other in big leagues. That's something really cool. It's just a testament to, obviously, their talent, their work ethic.”