The father-son Turang team works on Brice's hitting every offseason. 'I trust what he has to say.'
For as long as he’s played ball, going back to being a little kid, Brice Turang has always worked with one person on hitting: His dad.
Former major-leaguer Brian Turang, who played for two seasons with the Seattle Mariners, has worked with his son Brice, now an infielder with the Milwaukee Brewers, every year. That’s nothing new.
So when Brice was asked if he and his father worked on anything particular or special in the most recent offseason, Brice said:
"Yeah, just bringing me back to myself. And how I used to be as a hitter. 'Short to, long through' - I got flatter in the zone.”
With 48 hits so far this year (as of May 24), with a .310 batting average (as of May 24), Brice has drastically increased his average, which was .218 a year ago.
This father and son duo used to meet up at Brian's own baseball facility – the Turnin 2 Professional Baseball/Softball Training Center in Conona, Calif., but Brian has since closed that to allow for a more routine schedule. But he still consults other hitters from time to time. And last offseason, Brian and Brice did their hitting work at a California high school daily, for 45 minutes.
“He's been my hitting coach since I was a kid,” said Brice recently. “So he knows me probably better than anybody else would know me. And I trust him. I trust what he has to say.”
“We do a lot of talking. He’s like my best friend. I tell him everything.”
Brice said that trust goes back to a mutual interest and respect for one another and the game for as long as he can remember, and the 24-year-old has always been able to count on his father for honest feedback, without an overbearing personality.
“I wanted to play baseball; he just helped me help me do it,” said Brice. “Obviously every parent's got their moments for sure - because they care so much, but I never looked at it as a bad thing. Ever. I knew he was just always trying to help me and trying to help me get better.”
Two years ago in an article by MLB.com that highlighted the incredibly athletic Turang family, Brian was asked:
So, who was the better ball player at the age of 22, father or son?
“I mean, he would say he’s better than me, but there’s no way,” Brian told reporter Adam McCalvy. “No way. I still have him. He doesn’t have the power that I have, but it will come, I think. He still has time. He started pro ball way younger than me. I didn’t even start until I was 22.
“Honestly, at 22, he’s way ahead of me. I was a little bit stronger than him, but that will come. He has height on me, speed on me. I just try to tell him, ‘Hey man, keep doing what you’re doing. Be you, and you’ve got it.’”
Now 24, Brice said his dad shares a lot of stories from his playing days. Brian was first drafted by the Brewers in 1987 and then was drafted again in 1989 by Seattle. He played in 162 games from 1993 and 1994 for the Mariners, and registered 116 hits.
Brice is receptive to everything, open to hear whatever his father has to say.
“He's helped me out with everything,” said Brice. “What he's gone through and what he's learned - trying to help me learn that so I don't have to go through some of the mistakes he's gone through or whatever. The stories are awesome.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The father-son Turang team works on Brice's hitting every offseason
