ARLINGTON, Texas — You can't write movie scripts like this. OK, maybe you can ... but this is something you'd expect to only see in a Hollywood baseball film.
In the bottom of the third inning, trailing 3-0, Josh Jung stepped up to the plate for his first ever at bat in Major League Baseball (MLB). He led off the inning for the Texas Rangers, and on a 1-2 pitch, Jung went yard.
Jung crushed the pitch to left center field and just eclipsed the outfield wall. He hit a home run in his first career at bat in the MLB. The Bally Sports Southwest broadcast cut to his family and friends in the outfield, who were all (understandably) going absolutely bonkers.
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Watch it all unfold here:
“I don’t even think I was conscious running around the bases. Just put a good swing on it,” Jung said postgame. ‘’Looking in my lane, and if a pitch showed up there, I was swinging. But I didn’t want to be too timid.''
Bally Sports Southwest interviewed Jung's parents in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jung's mother told Bally she was ecstatic for her son. Jung's dad said the Rangers third baseman actually manifested his first home run as a kid.
Who is Josh Jung?
Josh Jung is a born and bred Texas kid. He was born in San Antonio and went to Douglas MacArthur High School in San Antonio. He graduated in 2016, went undrafted in the 2016 MLB Draft and attended Texas Tech University.
While in Lubbock, Jung played three seasons for the Red Raiders, where he was a unanimous All-America selection in his junior season.
In 2019, the Texas Rangers selected Jung with the No. 8 overall pick in the MLB Draft. Jung signed with the Rangers for a $4.4 million signing bonus in July 2019. On July 10, 2019, He made his professional debut for the Arizona League Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona League, where he also hit a home run in his first at bat.
Five days later, he was called up to the Rangers' High-A affiliate, the Kickory Crawdads, where he hit .287/.363/.389/.752 with one home run and 23 RBIs over 40 games. Jung was called up to the Rangers' Double-A affiliate, the Frisco Roughriders in June of 2021, where he hit .308/.366/.544 with 10 home runs and 40 RBIs over 43 games. In mid-August of 2021, Jung was called up once more to the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express, where he hit .348/.436/.652 with nine home runs and 21 RBIs in 35 games in the 2021 season. Entering 2022, Jung underwent surgery for a torn labrum and returned to the Round Rock Express in August. Jung played 23 games for Round Rock in 2022 before getting the call up to the big leagues.
The Rangers brought up Jung on Sept. 9, and one day later, Jung made his mark in "The Show."
What a moment.
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