12 Questions With Jojo: Baseball, Family and the Road Back

For Jojo Escarcega, baseball has never just been a game. It has been a part of his life for as long as he can remember, from growing up around his dad’s men’s league games in Tucson to eventually playing college and professional baseball himself. Along the way, Escarcega has experienced the kind of highs and lows that can completely change a person’s relationship with the game, including a devastating elbow injury, stepping away from baseball and a life-threatening accident that saw him take a break from baseball for more than two years.

Yet somehow, baseball found its way back to him.

When Marcus Catalano reached out and asked Escarcega if he could fill in as a catcher for the Monterey Amberjacks, Escarcega had no idea what his return to the diamond would look like. He certainly could not have expected to catch a pitcher throwing 95 mph or throw out the league leader in stolen bases in his first game back. Now, as a key piece of the Kino Kokopellis and a new father, Escarcega is looking at baseball and life through a completely different lens. In this conversation with Bear Sports News, Escarcega opens up about his journey, the people who shaped him, the lessons he has learned through failure and adversity, and why the game means even more to him today.

Q: What really got you into baseball and what’s kept you playing for so long?

A: Baseball has always kind of been like a big thing for my family, i was born in El Monte, California. We moved out here to Arizona when i was about 4 or 5 and my dad grew up playing baseball in the streets. Literally just playing stickball in the alleyway and stuff like that. He never played any type of organized ball but always played in the men’s leagues out here [Tucson].

Around when i was four, my day started thinking that i should just get him started early. I started playing ball when i was 4 and just kind of took off from there really. I was always around the game, especially with my dad playing men’s league baseball. I was always around adults growing up, when i was around 4 or 5 years old. All the way, well till now. It really started getting serious for me when i was 13 years old. That’s when it really kind of set in, i was like wow. I really love this game.

BSN: Wait, so you we’re playing in a men’s league at thirteen?!

Jojo: Yes!

BSN: That’s awesome dude! Im sure you were probably slashing it as good as you are now.

Jojo: Oh, yeah. I was doing pretty well actually. I was doing pretty good.

BSN: What was the age range for the men’s league?

Jojo: Well, i was obvisouly was the youngest guy there but i would see guys that were about 19-20 years old. My dad wanted to get me out there as much as i could, you know? Try to learn as much as i can from guys that have obvisouly played at a higher than he ever has. He really wanted me to learn from this Venezuelan guy named Robinson about catching, he played in the Yankees organization, I believe. That’s when i really started to take catching into the next level when I started learning from him.

BSN: Would you say that’s when your love for catching came around?

Jojo: Well,that’s the main position I’ve always played. I’ve always loved catching because you’re involved with everything and once I was able to actually learn from the Venezuelan guy [Robinson] and he showed me that’s there’s a lot more to it then just catching and throwing the ball. He showed me how to hold my glove, how to block the right way and that’s when it really moved to a different stage for me. I was like, wow, there’s really a lot more it than just catching and throwing.

Q: You’ve had big moments throughout your whole career, from your time in men’s league at 13, from your time in New Mexico. Which of those huge moments do you catch yourself daydreaming at the most?

Jojo: I guess you could say that there has to be two moments, my first college hit was a three-run home run. That’s definitely something I think about all the time. That’s brought up to me by my parents sometimes. That’s definitely a cool moment. I think it was a couple of series after that, but that same season, i had blown my elbow out. I had to get Tommy John surgery.

My first game of pro ball was a big one. I played for the Monterey Amber Jacks. The reason why that one was so important to me was, after COVID had hit. I had stopped playing college baseball and just decided to work and try to buy a house, and get married to my girlfriend at the time. I had called the coach and let him know that i wouldn’t be returning.

A couple of weeks had passed, and my wife, her family and I went on a trip to Roper Lake. We were heading back to our campsite after we left the lake and long story short, i fell off the back of the truck, and i ended up fracturing the back of my skull, and i had a brain bleed. I was placed in a medically induced come for a couple of days.

After that happened, i sat out for even picking up a baseball for over two years. Marky [Owner of Old Pueblo Tribe] asked me, and said “hey, I’m playing with the Amber Jax, they need a catcher, you want to come catch? I was like, dude, i haven’t played baseball in two years.

He said, oh, they just need a catcher,

I was like, all right, cool. The moments that really stand out to me the most is i was catching for this Canadian guy. He was throwing 95 miles an hour, and not playing for two years, i also threw out the league leader in stolen bases. That’ll definitely be a fun story to tell the kids.

BSN: That is awesome, a huge return like that, especially after what you went through, I mean, not picking up a baseball for 2 years. After all the medical stuff that you went through. That is just insane. That’s front page news right there.

Jojo: Yeah, it’s definitely a blessing.

Q: If you can jersey swap with one player, dead or alive, who would it be, and why?

Jojo: Oh my goodness, wow. That’s one hell of a question. Well i would definitely take the roughest route, and the most wholesome and humbling thing anybody in the history of baseball can experience in baseball. I would switch jerseys with Jackie Robinson.

What that man did, and what he had to go through just for, a game. It just wasn’t even the baseball part of it, that man completely changed history just for stepping on a baseball field and being black.

He did something that echoed in obviously history by doing that to be able to have people that are not white or Italian to be able just to step on a diamond, and play at the highest level.

He paved the way for guys like me to even be able to play high school ball or even have an opportunity to play pro baseball. So, just what that man had to go through. It’s just the most heroic thing that could’ve happened in this game to this day.

Q: How different is your approach going to be week to week now that you’ve welcomed a child into the world?

Jojo: Oh, it’s gonna be 1000% completely different. It’s obviously just not my wife and I anymore. It is our little boy as well, who was born on the first of this month, [September, 2026]. And honestly, it’s the best thing that has ever happened to me. the way it’s going to maneuver, it’s just going to be completely around him and whatever’s going to be convenient for him in my life. That’s just how it’s going to be.

Q: What is something about yourself that would surprise people that say they know you?

Jojo: There is one thing that a lot of people don’t know about, is that i like to learn, a lot. I have a notebook that i will literally just go into rabbit holes of just trying to learn about things. Just things that i find interesting, things that I want to know more about. For example, i have a notebook on my desk where I just take notes on things that I’m learning about.

-grabs notebook from desk and flips through it-

Like, I’ve always wanted to know why do people always want to say who’s right about this in Catholicism compared to people who are orthodox or Christian or other religions. I got into a deep dive into the history of Catholicism and i know it’s not the best topic to bring up, but i just like to learn. Another example is when after i had Tommy Joh, i really got into how to build strength in your tendon and you know. I’ve always just loved to study things and history and things like that. Those are just some big things i always really like looking at.

BSN: Would you consider yourself a conspiracy theory guy or do you try to stay away from those?

Jojo: I definitely fall into the conspiracy rabbit holes but i don’t fall for them. A lot of them are just like, come on. That’s a good story, but there’s no way that’s actually true, but I wouldn’t consider myself a conspiracy theorist.

Q: If you can tell younger Jojo one thing, what would it be?

Jojo: I would tell myself to enjoy it. Enjoy the game for what it is. Don’t lose yourself in all the noise of, you have to do this to get a scholarship or you would have to play two years at a JUCO to get drafted. Don’t fall into all these groups of we have to do this in order to get to the next level. Stand back, get as good as you can, and get better and enjoy the process, of everything you’re doing in the game. And to always live this this quote, “the saddest thing in life is wasted talent.”

Q: What is a time in your life that you felt was really challenging, but you’re proud of the way that you responded to it?

Jojo: It would have to be the year that i quit college baseball. Even though i had the accident where i fell off the back of a truck and went through all these things, it was the best thing that could’ve happened. It led me to accomplishing the best goal of all, and that’s being married to the love of my life and having a son. It brought me into a part of my life where it’s bigger than me. I’m part of a program, which is the Tribe.

The Tribe is bigger than me. I’m trying to help or do anything that i can do, to try and help build this organization. The main thing will be that i quit college baseball because now i have a beautiful wife and a healthy baby boy.

Q: What is one thing that most people get wrong about you the most?

Jojo: That im a mean guy or that im unapproachable. I don’t know if it’s how my face looks or how I look but people think that i just look angry all the time. When in reality, I’m just the happiest guy walking around.

Q: Let’s say you and your wife win the lottery right now. What is the number one thing on your guys bucket list that you two are going to do immediately?

Jojo: Paying off my student loan. Hahaha, I’m kidding, but no actually my wife and I have talked about this. The first thing we’d do is buy a lot of acreage and we are building multiple homes on that acreage and we’re moving our entire family out on that land.

BSN: Okay, so like a family compound? How big would you want the property to be?

Jojo: Yes, 100%, we’re doing that. That’s the 1st thing we’re doing. I would definitely get 100 to 200 acres… Actually, that’s way too much, i live on an acre and a quarter and that’s a lot. I think that 50 acres would be good.

Q: What is the best way to measure success in baseball?

Jojo: The best way to measure someone’s success in baseball is how they respond to failure. I guess the most cliche thing is honestly the truest thing and the best thing about baseball.

Baseball is a game of failure, you’re going to fail a lot in the game, and it’s all about how you approach it. Whether that’s your next at bat, your next play. As a pitcher, and myself as a catcher. We don’t have time to sit there and think about a previous at-bat or how i didn’t block a ball. I have to move on, and stick to what is going on in the game. If you don’t know how to get away from failing and knowing you have something else coming your way in this game, you will not be successful. You fail 7 out of 10 times and you’re a Hall of Famer.

At the end of the day, when you do play at different levels of the sport, the attitudes are somewhat how the team is ‘gelled’ together. Nobody wants a guy on their team that is crying, throwing their bats, or blaming the umpire for every strikeout they have. Nobody wants that and that’s definetely a head case that would not make it very far.

Q: What currently makes you the happiest right now?

Jojo: Definitely my wife and my son.

Q: Including the one scrimmage game you appeared in, you’ve been slashing the ball at the plate. You’re slashing a .611/.667/.722 with 12 RBI’s. How have you been able to stay locked in during this span and just treat every at-bat like you have to do something?

Jojo: First of all, I did not know i was doing that well. That’s insane, that’s crazy. Honestly, i had one or two bad games at the dish for the Tribe before we started playing for the Kokopellis. I just sat back and i thought, you’re doing way too much right now. It’s not your mechanics, it’s not your approach. You need to stand there, see the ball and hit the ball. the first game is when i started doing well and started heating up. I literally just went out and played baseball and that’s all I’ve been doing. I’m not trying to do too much with anything. If home runs come, they come. So, I’m just doing everything that i can. Not necessarily get a hit, but have a quality at bat. That’s my approach with everything, quality at best.

Q: We’re interviewing DJ Ethridge next week, what is one question that you’d like us to ask him?

Jojo: If you were to pick a song to have in your head so you can continue your rhythm on the mound, what would it be?