J.C. Escarra is a Major League Baseball player.
Escarra, 29, is a career minor leaguer who called his mother March 22 after he found out he had made the New York Yankees roster as a backup catcher when the team breaks spring training and begins its 2025 regular season.
"We're going to New York," he told his mother in a video the team shared on social media, prompting her to squeal in delight.
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WATCH HERE"The dream came true," he continued before wiping his eyes.
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SIGN UP "I can't believe it, my love," his mother said after what sounded like a mix of laughing and crying.
"We did it," Escarra said moments before a tear fell from his eye.
MLB
"We're going to New York. This is all so beautiful, my love," his mother said before Escarra confirmed to his dad on the call that "I made the team."
After hanging up the phone, Escarra wiped his teary eyes.
"That was awesome," he said.
The clip resonated with fans.
"Anyone else smile big, laugh, and wipe some tears? Yeah me neither 😳 congrats man," someone wrote.
"When he said 'we made it' !! All the years traveling around to games, rides to practices, all weekend tournaments, all the sacrifices that the 'whole' family makes. Every little league boys dream, is to give his parents that call!" another person commented.
"Who says there’s no crying in baseball?" wrote someone else with a crying emoji.
Escarra's call tugs on the heartstrings, and he says his mother truly understands his winding road to the majors.
"I don’t really even cry that much. I knew she was going to get (emotional)," he said, according to NorthJersey.com. "Just a special moment of what I’ve been through, because she went through it with me as well."
Escarra's conversation with his mom came after Yankees manager Aaron Boone called him into his office March 22 under the guise that he didn't make the team.
"Nah, you're going to the big leagues," Boone said, dropping the ruse and sparking a big laugh from Escarra.
“Let’s go!” Escarra said when learning the news.
“What a journey, and it’s just getting started,” Boone continued.
Escarra's promotion is as surprising as it is moving. He had worked as an Uber driver and substitute teacher in order to continue his quest to play baseball.
"I had just gotten married and bought an apartment with my wife (Jocelyn),” he told MLB.com last month. “So now I’ve got a mortgage to pay and a wife to provide for. I had to make money somehow, and no one was going to take away my home from me. I knew I had to make those payments, so I was doing anything it took."
He also refused to give up on his dream of playing baseball, even when the Baltimore Orioles, who drafted him in 2017, released him in 2022.
"I was about to hang it up,” Escarra said. “It wasn’t working out for me, but I still knew in my heart I should give it a try.”
Escarra and the Yankees will open the regular season when they host the Milwaukee Brewers March 27 at 3:05 p.m. ET.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
