SEATTLE -- The calendar -- and your local florist -- said last Sunday was Mother's Day.

Oh?

Try telling this to Tisha DeShields.

Mother's Day for her comes Thursday. She will bask in having her four gifted kids -- Delino, Diamond, D'Angelo and Denim -- all together for the first time in nearly a year. She won't need any stinking brunch to celebrate, either. A baseball field -- Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago -- will do just fine.

There she will watch Diamond, 23, the No. 3 overall pick by the Chicago Sky in last month's WNBA draft, throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the White Sox game. Then she will watch Delino, 25 and a former first-round pick, himself, lead off the game for the Rangers. Four days later, she will go to the final game of the Rangers-White Sox series in the afternoon, then take in the Sky's home opener in the evening.

"With these two, there is some kind of cosmic force, almost like a universal law, that things with them happen together," Tisha DeShields said. "It couldn't be scripted any better than this, but, with them I'm not surprised."

1 / 4Pictured is Texas Rangers centerfielder Delino DeShields Jr., left, and his siblings, going clockwise from Delino: Diamond, D Angelo and Denim. Photo by Brian Christian Photography/Courtesy of Tisha DeShields.((Brian Christian Photography/Courtesy of Tisha DeShields)) 2 / 4Pictured is Texas Rangers centerfielder Delino DeShields Jr., left, and his siblings, going clockwise from Delino: Diamond, D Angelo and Denim. Photo by Brian Christian Photography/Courtesy of Tisha DeShields.((Brian Christian Photography/Courtesy of Tisha DeShields)) 3 / 4Pictured is Texas Rangers centerfielder Delino DeShields Jr., left, and his siblings, going clockwise from Delino: Diamond, D Angelo and Denim. Photo by Brian Christian Photography/Courtesy of Tisha DeShields.((Brian Christian Photography/Courtesy of Tisha DeShields)) 4 / 4Pictured is Texas Rangers centerfielder Delino DeShields Jr. and his siblings and mother: From left to right: Siblings Denim, Diamond, D'Angelo, Delino and Tisha, their mother. Diamond, D Angelo and Denim and mother, Tisha. Photo by Brian Christian Photography/Courtesy of Tisha DeShields.((Brian Christian Photography/Courtesy of Tisha DeShields))

The two eldest children of former major leaguer Delino DeShields and Tisha, a former All-American track athlete at the University of Tennessee, have always been exceptionally close and have always been exceptionally athletically gifted.

Just as Delino was entering high school as a star running back and outstanding baseball talent, Diamond was being selected for elite AAU teams. When Delino was drafted by Houston in 2010, Diamond was emerging as one of the nation's top basketball recruits. And on and on it went.

They share a connection through sport that transcends into their relation.

"They are twins," Tisha said. "Just born two and half years apart."

Said Delino: "We have the same personality. We are both laid back but driven. We are confident in what we do. On the street, we may not come across as having a lot of enthusiasm or being energetic, but that's far from the case. We do a lot behind closed doors that a lot of people don't know about. We don't want the attention on ourselves; we both know we can impact the game and make the team better. That is where we are focused."

Right now, both are doing that. Delino has taken over as the Rangers' leadoff man and has established himself as the team's center fielder for the foreseeable future. Once left off the 40-man roster by Houston and sent to the minors by the Rangers in 2016, he has made himself a pillar of the Rangers core group of players by coming to grips with who he is as a player and addressing his weaknesses.

In short, he's gone all in on utilizing his best weapon, his speed, to impact games on both sides of the ball. According to MLB's Statcast system, DeShields and Minnesota' Byron Buxton were tied for the fastest players in the majors this season. He has gotten better reads on balls in the infield and has quickened up his release. According to fangraphs.com, he leads AL center fielders (minimum 200 innings) in the overall defensive index.

Diamond, originally a tennis protégé who trained with the Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena Williams, has also taken a not-so-linear path to the cusp of WNBA stardom. She played basketball for a year at North Carolina, two at Tennessee and then spent the last 10 months in Turkey, toughening herself against international competition.

It wasn't the most direct path to the No. 3 spot in the draft, but, at the end, she was an elite talent as a guard that the Sky couldn't pass up.

"There's no part of me that feels any type of regret toward making this decision and doing it the way that I did it," Diamond told the New York Times before the draft. "I feel a sense of contentment in knowing I did what was best for me, what ultimately has made me happy and changed my life."

This, too, is something the DeShields' kids share: Though they come from a family of athletic stars, they are not afraid to take harder individual paths.

1 / 10Texas Rangers centerfielder Delino DeShields and sister Diamond DeShields, who is a professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky (Courtesy/Tisha DeShields)(Courtesy/Tisha DeShields) 2 / 10Texas Rangers centerfielder Delino DeShields and sister Diamond DeShields Jr., who is a professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky (Courtesy/Tisha DeShields)(Courtesy/Tisha DeShields) 3 / 10Texas Rangers centerfielder Delino DeShields and sister Diamond DeShields, who is a professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky (Courtesy/Tisha DeShields)(Courtesy/Tisha DeShields) 4 / 10Texas Rangers centerfielder Delino DeShields Jr. and sister Diamond DeShields Jr., who is a professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky (Courtesy/Tisha DeShields) ORG XMIT: PgQnw_PKnXeuq_vHoFsn(Courtesy/Tisha DeShields) 5 / 10Texas Rangers centerfielder Delino DeShields and sister Diamond DeShields, who is a professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky (Courtesy/Tisha DeShields)(Courtesy/Tisha DeShields) 6 / 10Texas Rangers centerfielder Delino DeShields Jr. (Courtesy/Tisha DeShields) ORG XMIT: 8ZhJBnbT9q2FOetn24CP(Courtesy/Tisha DeShields) 7 / 10Chicago Sky basketball player Diamond DeShields, sister of Texas Rangers centerfielder Delino DeShields Jr. (Courtesy/Tisha DeShields)(Courtesy/Tisha DeShields) 8 / 10Texas Rangers centerfielder Delino DeShields and sister Diamond DeShields, who is a professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky (Courtesy/Tisha DeShields)(Courtesy/Tisha DeShields) 9 / 10Texas Rangers centerfielder Delino DeShields and sister Diamond DeShields, who is a professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky (Courtesy/Tisha DeShields)(Courtesy/Tisha DeShields) 10 / 10Texas Rangers centerfielder Delino DeShields and sister Diamond DeShields, who is a professional basketball player for the Chicago Sky (Courtesy/Tisha DeShields)(Courtesy/Tisha DeShields)

"Her work ethic is incredible," Delino said. "We have good genes, but genes only get you so far. It's about maximizing what God has given to us and making the most of it. We recognized that at an early age. We've talked about that. Our parents raised us and helped define who we are as people, but we didn't want them to define us as athletes."

Said Diamond: "I've always heeded everything my brother says, but we both encourage each other. When he doesn't feel good about something, he calls me and we support each other through it. Same thing for me. For us, it's a collective thing. We commit to things as a unit."

For the last year, the unit, however, has been separated. By the time Diamond finished her junior year at Tennessee, the Rangers 2017 season had already begun. She came to Dallas for one visit, saw her brother for a couple of hours and then began her own trek. She ultimately opted not to return to Tennessee and signed to play in Turkey instead. That led to a 10-month odyssey. The two haven't seen each other in 12 months.

Delino, who was on the DL the day of the draft, was the lone member of the family that did not attend the WNBA draft. Diamond departed within a day to return to finish out the season in Turkey. She did not return to the U.S. until Sunday, then went right into the Sky's training camp. Their contact has been text and phone calls.

The elder Delino, a roving instructor for the Reds, and Tisha divorced more than a decade ago. His baseball responsibilities are expected to keep him from attending the weekend, but the four children will be there with their mother Thursday.

"As you go through life, it seems like things happen so quickly," Tisha said. "There is always another level. You feel like the minute you get to something reachable, there is something else. When she was drafted, it was so emotional and then the next day she was gone. It's just going to be nice to have them all together and spend some time with them."

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant