IT COULD BE A MADE EXPERIMENT, dreamed up in a sports bar.  Take identical twins, give them both professional-quality pitching ability, have them both be drafted, and oh yeah, make one a lefty and the other a righty.

But it really happened.

CLOSE TO IDENTICAL: They look alot alike, but Jeremy (top) hurls from the left side, while Josh is a righthander.

JOSH AND JEREMY SOWERS ARE IDENTICAL TWINS and MINOR LEAGUE PITCHERS. Josh, the righthander, was drafted in 2005, and was 4-0 with a 4.86 ERA for the Short-A Auburn Doubledays last season. Jeremy, the southpaw, was drafted in 2004. He compiled a sparkling 14-4 record over three minor league levels in 2005, having started his season in Single-A, but finishing with the Eastern League Champion Akron Aeros, after registering a win in his lone Triple-A outing with Buffalo.

They’re also reported to be nearly identical pitchers, except for the handedness thing, of course. Josh’s college coach, former major league pitcher John Stuper, says, in terms of pitching, “they‘re clones of each other.“ A former teammate of Jeremy’s, who also batted against Josh, told Jeremy that batting against them is like “looking into a mirror.”

Other similarities between the two include their intelligence, and somewhat unconventional paths to professional ball. Jeremy’s path is the most unusual. Highly touted coming out of Louisville’s Ballard High School, he was taken in the first round of the 2001 draft by the Cincinnati Reds.

“I let people know college was what I wanted to do,” said Jeremy, who was surprised at the time of selection. True to his word, the southpaw went to Vanderbilt, majoring in political science. He also led the Commodores in wins each of his three seasons at Vandy, helping them reach the NCAA Super Regionals in 2004.

When draft time came around again following his junior year, Jeremy was ready. Taken again in the first round, this time by the Cleveland Indians with the sixth overall pick, Sowers signed on the dotted line.

“I was really excited about Cleveland,” says Jeremy. “It was a dream come true.”

Meanwhile Josh, an outfielder at Ballard High, went undrafted. Colleges were interested, however, and he chose Yale, not exactly a well-worn path to the majors. Luckily for Josh he came under the tutelage of coach John Stuper.

When Josh came to Yale, according to Stuper, he “lived in the shadow of his brother.” Stuper made Josh confront this by making him a pitcher as well. To help with the transformation he taught Josh the slider, noting that he was a “quick learner who applied lessons almost immediately.”

Josh blossomed, capping his Yale career with an outstanding 6-1, 2.10 effort his senior year, earning Ivy League pitcher of the year honors along the way. According to Stuper, Josh became a “strike throwing machine,” with an 88-91 mph fastball.

After graduating with a degree in economics with a nifty 3.20 GPA, draft time came around as major league clubs took notice of Josh’s abilities on the diamond.

“In my junior year I started throwing around 90 mph,” remembers Josh, “and the letters from [major league] teams started coming.”

The Toronto Blue Jays took him in the tenth round of the 2005 draft, and again the brother rivalry thing reared its ugly head.

This time the inevitable comparison was over draft money. Jeremy received a $2.375 million bonus; Josh, a $12,000 bonus. Left-handed pitchers, of course, tend to receive higher bonuses than righthanders. In the first ten rounds of the 2004 draft, for example, the average lefthander bonus was about 1.1 times the size of the average righthander bonus. Jeremy’s bonus, however, was about 198 times as large as Josh’s.

Did it cause a problem? No, agree Jeremy and Josh.

“We don’t talk about it, we really don’t talk about baseball,” says Josh. Adds Jeremy “we have a rivalry, but no jealousy. Besides, I’m envious of his Yale degree.”

Less than a semester away from his own degree, Jeremy will one day boast of his outstanding education.

So now the two are making their way through the minors. How are they doing? Objectively, of course, Jeremy’s further along, having briefly made it to Triple-A and winning at every level, but he’s not in The Show yet.

He spent most of the season with Double-A Akron, where according to Aeros pitching coach Greg Hibbard, Jeremy was their number one starter.

“Not the best starter, but the most consistent one,” noted Hibbard “[Jeremy’s] not going to electrify you with his stuff, but he throws strikes, and has been getting his

curve over for a first strike.”

“Very intellectual, but doesn’t over think. He reminds you of Tom Glavine,” said Hibbard of his intelligent hurler. “Jeremy’s still got to prove himself.”

As for Josh, he had an up and down year, according to Auburn Doubledays pitching coach Tom Signore.

“[Josh] started off very well, but then became a little inconsistent,” said Signore, as Josh finished the campaign in the bullpen trying to remove kinks in his delivery. “Get him to be more aggressive, more tempo.”

Josh participated in Toronto’s fall instructional league, indicating the Blue Jays’ confidence in his future.

Pitching coaches have their opinions, but what do the brothers think of each other’s pitching ability?

“It’s not fair to compare, anything from the left side is better,” Josh said. “Jeremy’s a lot more polished.”

As for Josh, Jeremy claims he “has done really well” in pro ball, and that Josh‘s “slider works better” than his.

In the race to the majors it looks like Jeremy has the inside track. But don’t count Josh out. After all, as they say, ‘it’s hard to keep a Yale man down.’