Eric Young Jr. is fast enough to run away from almost anything.

But all that speed won’t help him escape his 5-foot-9 namesake’s shadow, which, thanks in large part to the position of the son, just might roll out like a dark carpet that stretches as long as Eric Jr. plays his father’s game.

And really, how could it be any other way? Eric Jr. is a second baseman like his dad, is a renowned base thief like his dad and is now on the cusp of playing in front of the same fan base that embraced his father quite literally from the beginning – when he homered in the Rockies’ first at-bat in the home opener of their inaugural season.

Oh, and if sharing a name weren’t enough, the son shares an uncanny resemblance to the father at the same age.

Yep, the shadow will be long. But it doesn’t bother Eric Jr.

“I’m used to it now,” said Eric Jr., who is spending what appears to be his final minor-league summer in Colorado Springs as the Sky Sox leadoff man. “It’s kind of been the same since I was 7.”

It was in that childhood, where Eric Sr. and Paula Robinson raised their son separately, that Eric Jr. learned to distance himself from his father’s celebrity – a skill that has undoubtedly come in handy since following him into the Rockies organization as a 30th-round draft pick in 2003.

During those formative years, Eric Jr. spent summers as the bat boy for his dad’s teams – which included the Dodgers, Cubs, Brewers, Giants, Rangers and Padres in addition to his 4½ years with Colorado. When Eric Sr. was preparing for games, coaches and other players would hit Eric Jr. ground balls and take him to the batting cages.

Most kids his age would have considered it a dream existence, but Eric Jr. kept it all to himself when he returned to Piscataway, N.J., for the school year.

“If my friends would ask me questions I would answer them, but I didn’t ever want to make too big a deal out of it,” he said.

Eric Sr. watched a lot of his son’s milestones unfold on videotape, but he always made an effort to watch his son play the fall and winter sports – Eric Jr. was good enough to follow in his father’s footsteps as a college football player, turning down a scholarship from Villanova after the Rockies selected him. Eric Sr. played football at Rutgers.

“There were just some times when I knew he wouldn’t be home because he would be working, but being able to spend the summers with him helped a lot,” Eric Jr. said. “It was hard at times, but it made it a lot easier being able to spend time with him that way.”

Now, when he’s not contributing as an analyst on ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight,” Eric Sr. is free to watch his son whenever he wants.

“When I had Eric in Tulsa, his dad would come in to my office and talk about things that Junior needed to work on to get better,” said Sky Sox manager Stu Cole, who has known Eric Sr. for nearly two decades and is in his second year of managing Eric Jr. “For him to be part of Eric’s life, and especially in the baseball way of it, it’s only going to help Eric continue to improve.”

More than any other major American sport not involving restrictor plates, baseball is known for its paternal lineage. But rarely has an apple stayed this close to the tree.

Ken Griffey and Bobby Bonds, fine players in their own right, produced sons with far superior talent. Bob Boone and Tony Pena, a couple of grind-’em-out catchers, begat infielders. And Hal McRae, a career designated hitter known only for his bat, fathered a slick defensive center fielder who could do everything but hit.

One of the only differences between Eric Sr. the ballplayer and his son, who leads the Pacific Coast League in runs (62) and stolen bases (40) – he’s on pace to set a league record – is that Eric Jr. is a switch hitter. Baseball America noticed something else, calling him “strikingly similar to the player his dad was, albeit with more strength.”

Again, Eric Jr. is fine with the comparisons.

“It makes it easier because I can ask for help,” he said. “He’s been through all of the same situations so he already knows what I’m talking about before I even finish a sentence.”

It’s a safe bet that Eric Jr. hasn’t been able to finish more than a couple of sentences in the presence of his boisterous father. As Cole put it, “his father, he’s a person that you would know he was in the room that you were in.

“(Eric Jr.) is more of a mellow type of person.”

And maybe that’s the one difference that will make this all work out in the end. Junior never has had an aching for attention. The motivation he draws from his father isn’t one to live up to a legacy, but rather to return to a lifestyle that his father’s success allowed him to taste.

“When I came in at rookie ball and there were the bus rides and everything, I had never experienced anything like that,” Eric Jr. said. “I was like, ‘OK, I have seen where I want to be, so I have to work hard to get up there.'”

And now, it looks like that it might happen. The Rockies traded Cory Wimberly to Oakland for Matt Murton before the season, a clear endorsement of Young since Wimberly brings such a similar skill set.

Ian Stewart is looking more and more like the answer at third base, leaving Clint Barmes as the lone obstacle to second base when spring training rolls around.

So now it’s a waiting game. Waiting for more minor-league at-bats. Waiting for the glove to develop a little more. Waiting for those inevitable comparisons.

“I honestly don’t know,” Eric Jr. said, unafraid to look ahead, “who is going to be more excited when it happens.”

It’ll be just one more thing he gets to share with his dad.

Eric Young, right, acknowledged the crowd as his son, Eric Young Jr., left, watched as his father was honored last season at Coors Field. Photo by AP PHOTO

With speed as his calling card, Sky Sox second baseman Eric Young Jr. will be playing in Coors Field soon. Photo by BRYAN OLLER, THE GAZETTE