From Uber to the Yankees: JC Escarra’s Unbelievable Journey to the Bronx
There was a time when JC Escarra thought baseball had given up on him. Driving for Uber, working odd jobs, and making just $400 every two weeks in independent leagues, the idea of reaching the big leagues seemed like a distant fantasy. The Baltimore Orioles had cast him aside, and Escarra was ready to walk away from the game he loved.
But fate had other plans.
On Saturday, Escarra’s perseverance paid off in the most dramatic way possible. Yankees manager Aaron Boone summoned him into his office, his tone somber, hinting that the team’s catching depth might stand in Escarra’s way. Heart sinking, Escarra braced for disappointment. Then, in a moment straight out of a movie, Boone cracked a grin and dropped the bombshell: Escarra was officially a Yankee. The moment, captured and shared by the Yankees on social media, instantly went viral.
And if that wasn’t emotional enough, Escarra’s next call was to his mom. The sheer joy, the years of struggle flashing before his eyes—it all came pouring out. “I don’t even cry that much,” Escarra admitted, but this moment was different. This wasn’t just his dream coming true—it was his family’s.
Escarra, now set to turn 30, wasn’t supposed to be here. Just last year, he was bouncing between the Atlantic and Mexican Leagues, grinding it out for one last shot. Then the Yankees came calling, offering him something no other team had—a second chance as a catcher. And now, after slashing .333 with a .936 OPS in spring training, he’s heading to Opening Day in the Bronx.
The timing couldn’t be more poetic. Before stepping onto Yankee Stadium’s hallowed grounds, Escarra will return to Miami on Tuesday for the team’s final exhibition game against the Marlins—a homecoming with family and friends in the stands. And come June, his life will change forever again, as he and his wife welcome their first child, a son.
“It’s a miracle in itself,” Escarra said. “Something inside of me just told me to keep going, give it another year. And now, here I am.”
From substitute teaching and late-night Uber shifts to playing on baseball’s biggest stage, Escarra’s journey is the stuff of legend. Now, all that’s left is to write the next chapter—with a Yankees uniform on his back and a dream fully realized.
