Jung bros get 'best day ever,' share field with mom present for Mother's Day

DETROIT -- Mary and Jeff Jung grew up a baseball family with two budding stars, but often traversing separate paths on weekends. With Josh and Jace Jung playing travel ball on different clubs, three years apart in age, they had their own schedules and tournaments.

“I usually went with mom, Josh usually went with dad,” Jace said, “and we'd split and went to different places. There was a week when we were growing up where he was in Georgia, I was in Florida, so two different cars going.”

Fitting, then, that on Mother’s Day weekend, the Jung brothers could finally take the same field. Moreover, they took the same spot, both starting at third base on Sunday as the Rangers and Tigers faced off at Comerica Park. And after years of criscrossing the country to watch one or the other, Mary and Jeff could watch them both as Texas took Sunday’s series finale, 6-1.

“When we're all together in one place, that's just the best day ever,” Mary Jung told FanDuel Sports Detroit.

The entire family took the field before Sunday’s game. The brothers presented their mom a pink bat with her name and their jersey numbers on it. They also presented split jerseys -- half Tigers, half Rangers -- to mom and dad with their name and numbers – one with 17, the other 6.

“But she went out and got her own jersey,” Josh lamented. “If she’d just waited two days. … But me and my brother were keeping it quiet. She just got it this week. Unbelievable.”

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Then she delivered the game ball to the mound for Tigers starter Reese Olson.

“Oh man, that was special,” said Jace. “It was pretty cool just to have your mom out there. Honestly, I was just like, ‘Ooh, this is a lot, but I’m ready to play now.’”

If he thought that was a lot, then he got a glimpse of what it was like for his parents to watch their two sons playing on opposing sides. With each at-bat, they could be seen agonizing, one of their kids ultimately having to lose.

“They always get nervous for us,” Jace said. “I think that just shows you how much they care, because they’re always trying to be in the at-bat for us. It’s harder sitting in the stands than being in the box. They always have something to say after the game.”

While the Rangers took the series, older brother Josh took the sibling rivalry. His two hits included a two-run homer in the fifth inning. But his first hit, a second-inning single, set up a memory. He went from first to third on Ezequiel Duran’s two-out single, sliding into third and past Jace as Kerry Carpenter’s throw came in from right field and hit Josh.

“I would’ve loved to tag him out,” Jace said. “I actually was trying too hard to catch [the throw] deep. I should’ve gone up a step to tag his back, but I really wanted to catch it deep and drop it on him. That’s alright. Looking back, it was a bang-bang play.”

What went through his mind as the play unfolded?

“Cuss words,” Jace said. “But at the end of the day, it’s your brother. I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s like, I need to do that. I’m trying to get back at him.”

The special weekend was months in the making, but just as much anticipation. The schedule was released last year, but there was no guarantee that both would be on the active roster, let alone playing.

“We kind of circled it, and if it happens, it happens,” Mary told FanDuel Sports Detroit, “You know, it's baseball. Everybody's gotta be healthy. Everybody's gotta play good. And so, the closer we got, we'll make a hotel reservation, we'll make a flight plan. But it wasn't until I got here that it kinda started to sink in and got real. It is amazing.”

Jace didn’t make Detroit’s Opening Day roster, but when he was called up a few weeks ago, the plans were back on. They booked the flight this week.

It was ironic after all the driving over the years.

“My parents do not like to fly,” Jace said. “They'd much rather drive places. They don't want to wait in an airport, because if you get delayed, they're like, 'I could've been there by now.' And I'm like, 'No you couldn't, but I like where your head's at.'”

Sunday was worth the wait.

“To be able to play against each other, I know my parents were super proud,” Josh said. “All the emotions come up, all the sacrifices they’ve made for us. There’s no way to say thank you, but hopefully they were super proud watching us run out at the same position.”