Brooklyn Slugger Honors Dad With Major League Dream

When Josue De Paula launched his first Major League home run into the upper deck at Miami's loanDepot park, he knew exactly where the ball was going. Straight to his dad.

De Paula Sr. had boarded a plane in New York that Friday morning, landing in Miami at 10:30 a.m. to watch his son make his Major League debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Years of early mornings, batting practice, and dreams were about to come true.

"This is a moment," De Paula Sr. said, his voice shaking. "This will always be unforgettable. I am still in shock right now."

The 21-year-old outfielder became the first Dodgers position player since 2014 to jump directly from Double-A to the Majors. His call-up came after a stellar season where he hit .303 with 27 home runs across 124 games.

But baseball means more to this family than statistics. De Paula Sr. grew up in the Dominican Republic sneaking out to play baseball whenever he could. Life circumstances meant he never got to pursue his own baseball dreams.

"What my son wasn't able to do, his son is doing it," said Sixtra Brito De Paula, Josue's grandmother, watching from the stands.

The baseball journey took an unexpected turn during the COVID-19 pandemic. With Brooklyn schools shut down, teenage Josue moved to the Dominican Republic to live with his uncles. There, he trained with El Niche Baseball Academy in Santo Domingo, the only place still playing ball.

Those Dominican roots deepened his connection to his father's heritage. He worked hard to learn Spanish, wanting to communicate with his family and understand his culture fully.

"It was important for me to be able to communicate with my people, with Latinos," De Paula said. "I liked to know what they were talking about."

Nelson Santiago, his Little League coach who started working with De Paula at age 7, also made the trip to Miami. He remembers a kid who always had a bat in his hands and made the game look effortless.

"He is very humble," Santiago said. "He wants to be better. He worked really hard to get here."

Sunny's Take

De Paula carries his father's complete name with pride. When he stepped onto that Major League field wearing Dodger blue, three generations stood together. His grandmother remembered feeding him mangú, a traditional Dominican dish of mashed plantains. His father watched the swing he'd helped shape since his son was four years old. And Josue became the living proof that some dreams skip a generation but never die.

That home run ball sits with his father now, a symbol of sacrifice, heritage, and a love of baseball that crossed oceans and decades to find its moment.

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