Doppelgangers with same name took DNA test to see if they were related
Two Minor League Baseball pitchers with the exact same name — and eerily similar looks — took a DNA test to find out if they’re actually related after years of being confused for one another.
The NY Post reports Brady Feigl, 32, who is a player for the Long Island Ducks, looks nearly identical to the other Brady Feigl, 27, who plays for the Las Vegas Aviators.
The pair both measure up at 6 feet, four inches tall, have fiery red hair and wear glasses.
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In 2015, the doppelgangers were first mistaken for one another when they both had the exact same elbow surgery performed by the same doctor, named Dr. James Andrews.
“I was probably six or seven months out of surgery and their office called our trainer and said, ‘Hey, when’s Brady reporting for surgery? Is he getting down here tomorrow?’ ” the younger Feigl told The Clarion Ledger at the time.
Feigl subsequently found out that he had a serious lookalike.
“He was like, ‘He had it six months ago. What are you talking about?’” Feigl explained. “That’s how I found out there was two of us.”
A few years later, in 2017, the duo fell into another identity crisis, after the University of Missouri’s baseball team tagged the wrong Feigl on Twitter in a birthday tribute, where the Las Vegas player was signed at the time.
“Wrong Brady Feigl,” the former San Diego Padres player responded. “Might be looking for @bfeigl39…”
Strangely enough, these two were not separated at birth — the DNA test showed no biological connection.
However, despite their age gap, the Feigls still feel bonded to each other.
“We’re still brothers in a way,” the older Feigl said, according to The Sun.
The Feigls may not be the only two out there who are two identical strangers — an August 2022 study of 32 pairs by Cell Reports found people who look alike yet are not related share genetic similarities.
In the study, researchers asked the doubles to do a DNA test and fill out a questionnaire about their lives, according to CNN. The scientists performing the work also put the doppelgangers’ images through three different facial recognition programs.
“Genomics clusters them together, and the rest sets them apart,” said senior author Manel Esteller of the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain, in a statement.
This article originally appeared in the NY Post and was reproduced with permission.