Yankees player J.C. Escarra’s mother recalls reaction to him making the team
The calendar hasn’t yet turned to April, but one of the more memorable moments of the Major League Baseball season has already taken place.
The calendar hasn’t yet turned to April, but one of the more memorable moments of the Major League Baseball season has already taken place.
New York Yankees backup catcher J.C. Escarra went viral last weekend after he appeared in a video telling his mother on a phone call he made the team, prompting her to cry in delight and disbelief while he also fought back tears.
A one-time draft pick by the Baltimore Orioles who has played several seasons in the minor leagues, Escarra, 29, has never played in a major league game, working as an Uber driver, substitute teacher and baseball coach to make ends meet while he chased his dream.
“When he called me, I was not expecting anything,” his mother, Marinelys, said while appearing with her son March 28 on TODAY. “So, I was talking to my mom, and then I said, ‘Look, J.C.’s calling,’ so as soon as I got it and then he start talking, I was normal until he say that (he made the team). And then I said, ‘Ohhhh.’ And then I start crying.”
She said she cried for days and then started “crying again” when she arrived at Yankee Stadium for the Yankees’ season opener on March 27. The team defeated the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-2.
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