Cruz tackles revival project
’90s star tasked with turnaround as 1st-time coach
Rice is turning to the past to return its baseball program to national prominence.
Jose Cruz Jr., a three-time All-American whose family has called South Main home for parts of the past three decades, was hired Wednesday as the school’s next baseball coach.
“Jose Cruz
Jr. understands as well as anyone the tra- jectory of
Rice baseball over the last three decades,” Rice athletic director Joe Karlgaard said in a statement. “As a player, he gave us immediate credibility when he chose Rice. He saw the program grow into a perennial powerhouse through his brother playing on the 2003 College World Series championship squad, and he has felt our recent struggles as the parent of two players. He is passionate about leading the charge to bring Rice baseball back to the top of college baseball.”
Cruz, who is in his first season as the Detroit Tigers’ assistant hitting coach, signed a five-year deal. This will be his first head coaching job.
The school said Cruz, 47, will remain with the Tigers through the weekend and be formally introduced early next week.
“It is an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to come home to Rice, a
place that has given me and my family so much over the years,” Cruz said in a statement. “(Coach) Wayne Graham sold me on what Rice could become, and he was right. It’s up to me and my staff to return Rice baseball to the position we worked so hard to build.”
One of the top collegiate players in the nation, Cruz played for the Owls from 1993-95 and was a member of the school’s first NCAA Tournament team that began a run of 23 consecutive regionals — which included seven College World Series appearances and a national title in 2003 — under Hall of Fame coach Graham.
Cruz inherits a program that has been in decline with four straight losing seasons, the last three under Matt Bragga, who was fired in May. Rice went 23-29-1 this season and failed to qualify for the Conference USA tournament. It was the first time the Owls missed a conference tournament since 1993.
A highly ranked recruit who led Bellaire to the nation’s top prep ranking in 1992, Cruz choose to stay close to home and sign with Rice. In three seasons, he was selected national freshman of the year (1993) and Southwest Conference player of the year and first-team All-America in 1994, when he hit .401 with 14 home runs and 68 RBIs.
During Cruz’s junior season, the Owls made the NCAA Tournament for the first time and eliminated defending champion LSU. Cruz finished his college career among Rice’s career leaders in batting average (.376), home runs (43) and RBIs (203). In 2003, Cruz was inducted into the Rice Athletics Hall of Fame.
Cruz was selected third overall in the 1995 Major League Baseball draft by Seattle. He played for the Mariners, Blue Jays, Giants, Devil Rays, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Red Sox, Padres and Astros during a 12-year professional career. In 2008, Cruz played 38 games for the Astros — the organization with whom his father, Jose Sr., spent 13 seasons as one of the most popular players in franchise history — before announcing his retirement.
Cruz is the first former Rice player to be named head baseball coach since Harold Stockbridge, who guided the program from 1949-52. He’s also the second ex-Rice player in the last couple of weeks to be named a first-time head coach; Lance Berkman was hired by Houston Baptist on May 31.
“Really and truly, I credit Jose Cruz Jr. with being the guy that got the thing started over there in the first place,” Berkman said Wednesday. “When he was being recruited, he could have gone anywhere in the country, and he chose Rice. So when I was being recruited, one of the main factors that I considered was if Jose Cruz Jr. decides to go there, then it’s a legitimate program. A lot of guys felt that way.”
With the Tigers, Cruz has focused on hitting instruction and working with outfielders on manager A.J. Hinch’s staff.
“He’s a huge alum there,” Hinch told reporters before Wednesday’s game against the Mariners. “He’s uber-talented to do a lot of different things. It’s not a surprise to me that people came calling about him.”
The Cruz family has longstanding ties with Rice — his younger brother, Enrique, was a member of the 2003 championship team, and both of his sons played for the Owls. Trei was a threeyear starter (2018-20) and a third-round selection of the Tigers; Antonio will return for his senior season in 2022.
Cruz returned to Rice to finish his degree in 2013.