The Commissioner’s Trophy, presented to the winner of Major League Baseball’s World Series. Photo by Fernando Cruz.
“It ain’t this easy, I promise.” — Rangers shortstop Corey Seager to Jung after the last out of the 2023 World Series.
By Reece Nations
Former Red Raider and current Texas Rangers infielder Josh Jung returned to Lubbock last week for the first time since winning the 2023 World Series as part of the team’s championship celebration tour.
Last season was one of monumental firsts for the Ranger’s 2019 first round pick. Not only was he named American League rookie of the month in April and May, Jung also became the first Ranger newcomer to start an All-Star game.
Jung finished his first full year with the Rangers having batted an average of .266 across 122 games played, netting 127 total hits and 70 runs batted in during an injury-shortened season.
Despite having his campaign for rookie of the year thwarted in August by a broken left thumb that required surgery, Jung rebounded by starting all 17 postseason games, hitting .308, raking in four doubles, blasting three home runs and knocking in eight runs, according to Baseball Reference.
As the Raider-turned-Ranger took the stage during a Jan. 30 luncheon hosted by the College Baseball Foundation, he was joined by another Tech alumni in Emily Jones, Fox Sports anchor and reporter for the network’s Rangers broadcasts. In their opening remarks to the dozens gathered in the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, Jones asked Jung what it felt like to be a champion.
CoMC alumni Emily Jones and Josh Jung at the 2024 First Pitch Luncheon presented by the College Baseball Foundation. Photo by Fernando Cruz.
“I’d say the first two weeks it feels amazing, and then you wake up third week and it’s no different,” Jung said.
Jones, a College of Media & Communication alumna from the class of 1998, said this was a Rangers team that succeeded despite facing numerous hardships. In the American League Championship Series against their in-state rival Houston Astros, the Rangers had to win back-to-back elimination games on the road.
During the 2022 offseason, Jung had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. Jones described Jung as being “a grump” to work with when recounting his injured period from the last couple of seasons.
“You’re not fun at all when you’re hurt, and it’s kind of annoying,” she said, drawing laughter from the crowd. “What did those times teach you? Kind of, going through that layer of adversity.”
Jung said turbulent times in the Rangers club house were met with “composure,” remarking at how relaxed his teammates were when “our backs [were] against the wall… .”
Jung said the significance of those moments weren’t lost on him, and that he and his teammates must now meet higher expectations after raising their team’s standard of success. Likewise, the significance of bringing a championship home to the team that drafted him wasn’t lost on him either.
Before last year, the Rangers had never won a World Series since the franchise’s inception in 1961 as the then-Washington Senators. The team relocated to Arlington before the 1972 season and have been the Texas Rangers ever since.
“It’s truly special [that] we’ll be that first banner that’s hung in the stadium,” Jung said. “When people think of the Rangers winning the World Series, it will probably be us as the forefront.”
Also special to Jung was his time as a player under Texas Tech Head Coach Tim Tadlock, whom he acknowledged during the program. Jung credits Tadlock and the Tech coaching staff with helping to keep him sharp in the lulls between baseball.
CoMC alumni Jones and Jung before the 2024 CBF First Pitch Luncheon. Photo by Fernando Cruz.
“They do mean a lot to me because in the offseason they let me come back and be around the guys and work[out] at their facilities,” he said. “Just being alongside of them, growing, having conversations and all that kind of stuff.”
In his three seasons as a Red Raider, Jung amassed an astounding resumé — including being named Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2017, all-Big 12 First Team in 2018 and Big 12 Co-Player of the Year in 2019, according to Tech Athletics. Jung helped propel the Raiders to two NCAA College World Series appearances in his three years as a player.
Jung is the Red Raiders’ all-time career leader of several offensive categories in NCAA tournament play, including plate appearances, runs, hits, home runs and RBI. In an exclusive interview following the event, Jung told The Hub@TTU that the biggest thing he learned from his time at Tech was “to be your own coach.”
“They help you through all the adversity, all this stuff you go through, and they equip you with the tools to truly help you grow on your own, and let you learn from stuff,” Jung said. “I think Tadlock is the perfect example of that because he’s not going to put you into a certain system and make you do certain things. He wants you to figure out who you are as a player, and then how to be successful in that role.”
As a CoMC student, Jung majored in Communication Studies and managed to complete his degree program two years after being taken eighth overall in the MLB draft. After his playing career concludes, Jung said he plans on using his education to start a new career as a broadcaster to “stay around baseball.”
CoMC professor emeritus Bill Dean greets Rangers 3B Josh Jung at the 2024 First Pitch Luncheon. Photo by Fernando Cruz.
As an alumnus of Tech’s 2021 class of graduates, Jung said he has fond memories of being one of associate professor emeritus Bill Dean’s students in the college. Dean, who retired from teaching classes full-time in 2021 after 54 years according to The Daily Toreador, was present at the CBF event and greeted Jung warmly upon seeing his former pupil. Dean is a former Tech baseball player in his own right, having played for the Red Raiders from 1956 to 1960.
“I remember just going into [Dean’s] office hours because— I mean during the season we can’t be in class much and he’d just say, ‘Come to my office,’ and we wouldn’t even talk about the subject,” Jung told The Hub. “We’d just talk about baseball and that’s why it was so much fun.”
About Reece Nations
