Who says there’s no crying in baseball?
One of Joshua Palacios’s earliest memories is standing on the side of a baseball field at three years old, crying because he was not allowed to play. Now, the Brooklyn native gets to play professionally. The Toronto Blue Jays selected Palacios in the fourth round of the Major League Baseball Draft on June 10.
“It’s great to just be able to say I’m part of the organization now and get a start on my professional career,” said Palacios, who just wrapped up his junior season at Auburn. “Baseball has kind of just been bred in me. That’s all I know.”
The outfielder calls the game “the family business” — and for good reason.
His uncle Rey played for the Kansas City Royals from 1988 to 1990, and his father, Richard, played in the Detroit Tigers minor-league system. His younger brother, Richard Jr., started his college career at Towson University this spring.
Baseball has always been the foundation of Palacios’s life, and he’s always been working toward a career in the pros.
“It means a lot, because now I get to actually chase my dream,” Palacios said. “In college, it was trying to get a chance to play professionally, and now that I’m there and in an organization, I can work my way up the ranks.”
Palacios made his mark on New York City baseball during his career at the High School of Telecommunication Art and Technology, where he hit .667 with six doubles, two triples, and four home runs during his senior season.
The stats were impressive, but they didn’t immediately translate to college offers. Palacios opted to go the junior college route, even returning to school after the Cincinnati Reds drafted him in the 31st round in 2014.
It paid off. Palacios fine-tuned his skills at San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas, hitting .361 with 61 runs and 29 stolen bases during his sophomore spring.
“I think it raised my stock tremendously,” Palacios said. “It really did make me a better person and a better baseball player. Going through (junior college), I was experiencing the rougher part of college. There’s not a lot of fans in the stands, but you get the competition you need.”
The solid performance at the junior college level led Palacios to a stint at Auburn and an opportunity to compete against some of the best talent in the country.
“I can’t say how much I enjoyed it there and what a blessing it was to play,” he said. “Coming from New York, you don’t really get to play in those kind of top-notch stadiums under the lights and with the fans. It was incredible.”
Palacios hasn’t cried over baseball in nearly 20 years, but when his phone rang and the Blue Jays offered him a job, he has to admit he may have shed a few tears. But now it’s time to get to work.
Palacios has been waiting for this moment his entire life, and now that it’s finally here, he’s not going to waste it. After all, he’s got a family reputation to live up to.
“This was always something I wanted,” Palacios said. “I just always wanted to be a ball player.”
