MJ, Minjae Seo represent their heritage as LSU, Vanderbilt baseball commits
PLANO, Texas (BVM) — When MJ Seo steps into the batter’s box for John Paul II High School in Plano, Texas, he is thousands and thousands of miles away from where he was born. But he always represents his home country.
On the backside of his forearm, MJ sports a tattoo of the date that his family moved to North America. On the barrel of his bat, his name is displayed in Korean. The bat itself is from Bon Bats, a Korean company.
“That’s where our culture and tradition come from,” MJ said. “It means the world to me.”
With MJ, a high school junior committed to LSU, and his younger brother Minjae, a high school freshman committed to Vanderbilt, the Seo brothers will always be proud of their heritage.
“You always have to represent your home land,” Minjae said.
The home land for the Seos is Seoul, South Korea, where most of their family remains. When MJ and Minjae were five and three respectively, they moved to Vancouver in search of a new environment.
This is where they fell in love with the game of baseball.
In 2016, the Seos moved again to Texas to support their athletic endeavors.
While moving countries may be tough for most, the Seo brothers leaned on each other for support on and off the field.
“He helps me with almost everything we do,” Minjae said. “Sports, baseball or even life lessons. He teaches me almost everything.”
MJ has been able to help Minjae with things over the years such as throwing harder, how to stay healthy and arm care, which is now of crucial importance with how coveted both of them have become.
Both brothers are pitchers and shortstops with MJ hitting the mid 90s with his fastball and Minjae not too far behind him.
With that type of arm talent, it is not a surprise that they were both heavily recruited early on.
MJ initially committed to Arizona as a freshman, but after a coaching change during the summer going into his junior year, he decided to explore all of his options.
With MJ and Minjae looking for a school at the same time, they decided to announce their commitments a day apart.
COMMITED to Louisiana State University. Thank you to everyone who has helped me get to this point. Thank you to Coach Johnson and the rest of the LSU coaching staff for giving me the opportunity to rock the purple and gold. #GeauxTigers@LSUCoachJ @AR_Sticks @jpiihsbaseball pic.twitter.com/sC6ydBVYUL
— MJ Seo (@MJSeo8) November 11, 2021
I am excited to announce that I have commited to play baseball at Vanderbilt University. I would like to thank everybody who has supported me throughout this process. I would also like to thank the Vanderbilt coach staff for giving me this opportunity. #AnchorDown@VandyBoys pic.twitter.com/P8UFDaDn3M
— Minjae Seo (@minjaeseo14) November 9, 2021
For both brothers, Vanderbilt was their dream school growing up, but MJ fell in love with the people and the campus in Baton Rouge.
“The environment was crazy,” MJ said. “Obviously, Coach Johnson and the relationship we had was awesome, so that helped a lot too. It just felt right.”
Minjae was surprised initially, but understood his brother’s decision. But for him, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play for the Commodores.
“The coaching staff there is amazing,” Minjae said. “They know how to make each player great and reach their full potential.”
While it looks like both brothers have a good shot at playing for a while, they have already been able to take some wisdom from the journey they have been on so far and apply it to their everyday lives.
“I think my biggest achievement is learning a good work ethic through baseball,” MJ said. “That not only helps me in baseball, but off the field too.”
That work ethic that both brothers share is what has carried them to where they are today and hopefully, will carry them even beyond college baseball.
