It was reported late Sunday evening that the Dodgers had signed catcher Vin DiFazio to a minor league contract. The 29-year-old Hampton, New Jersey native played the past two seasons with the St. Paul Saints of the the Independent League American Association. Interestingly enough, DiFazio was a Saints teammate with outfielder and first baseman Angelo Songco who just last week re-signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers.

Although DiFazio’s signing has not yet been confirmed by the Dodgers, Texas Rangers beat writer Scott Lucas posted this on Twitter late Sunday night:

Lucas is a reporter for The Newberg Report, which covers the Texas Rangers and their minor league affiliates.

DiFazio graduated in 2004 from the Pennington School in Pennington, N.J. as a four-year baseball letterman and a two-time all-state and all-prep honoree while leading his team to a conference championship.

He played one season for Coach Jim Penders at the University of Connecticut in 2005 hitting .306 with one home run and 15 RBI. Following his college season DiFazio played for the Quakertown Quakes in the Atlantic Collegiate League where he was named one to the league’s Top 10 prospects by Baseball America.

DiFazio played the 2006 season at Indian River Community College after transferring from the University of Connecticut. His plan was to prepare for the next season and attend the University of Alabama on a baseball scholarship. He was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 46th round of the 2006 First Year Player Draft but advised the Orioles that he had every intention of playing with the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2007. He did agree to an Orioles request to play in the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Summer League where he won the batting title hitting .400 and also posted a league-leading slugging percentage of .629 and on-base percentage of. 494. His team won the 2006 AAABA World Championship as DiFazio was ranked the fifth best prospect in a league full of Division I players and soon to be professionals.

The day before he was scheduled to leave for the University of Alabama his career took a sharp and potentially disastrous turn. DiFazio suffered a meniscus tear while playing in an AAABA Championship game. The injury was disappointing enough but not career threatening.

The worst was yet to come. He had surgery on his knee and inexplicably about two weeks later he began to have severe pain in his shoulder. He was diagnosed with brachial neuritis which is a very rare condition that causes inflammation in the nerves in the arm and results in extreme pain and restriction of the muscles. He began to lose muscle mass and feeling in his shoulders. He started to lose his reflexes and had a greatly restricted range of motion. There was a strong possibility his baseball career was over.

“Most doctors tell you they don’t know and a couple didn’t think I’d play again,” said DiFazio. “But that went in one ear and out the other. They weren’t going to tell me I wasn’t going to play baseball again.”

When you look up courage and perseverance in the dictionary, you will see Vin DiFazio’s picture – at least you should. (Photo credit – Jesse Tinsley)

DiFazio sat out the entire 2007 season and played just nine games as a junior year. In his 2009 senior year, after two years of rehabilitation and finally healthy, he rebounded with a .329 average and seven home runs. His hard work was rewarded when he was selected by the Texas Rangers in the twelfth round of the 2009 First Year Player Draft.

DiFazio played four years in the Rangers’ minor league system never reaching above the High A level. He played his last season of minor league ball with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the Carolina League. During his four seasons in the Rangers organization he hit .244 with 37 home runs and 152 runs batted in and posting an above average OBP of .378.

Vin DiFazio has played in the American Association for the past two seasons. During the 2015 season he hit .361 with 17 home runs. The 29-year old catcher led the league in batting average as well as in on-base percentage (.467) and slugging percentage (.529). He also drove in 82 runs tying him for the league lead with teammate Angelo Songco.

Vin DiFazio has overcome what might be seen by many as insurmountable obstacles to keeping his baseball dream alive. He credits his determination to his family and especially his dad and his uncle. His uncle, also named Vincent DiFazio, has his name inscribed on the monument at the World Trade Center Memorial.

Vincent DiFazio worked for the investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald on the 105th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, as he had in 1993 when the tower was bombed and he walked down all 104 flights to safety. When terrorists flew American Airlines Flight 11 into the tower at 8:46 on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 – just floors below the Cantor Fitzgerald offices – he tried to call his wife Pattie, but she was driving their three children to school. So he phoned his brother’s house and spoke to Arline DiFazio.

“I don’t think I’m going to make it out this time,” he said. “Tell everybody I love them.”

Vin DiFazio’s uncle, also named Vincent, is one of the nearly 3,000 names inscribed at the September 11 Memorial in New York City. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Vin DiFazio – who refers to himself as “Little Vinnie” – credits his uncle with helping him to follow his dream and to carry on under very difficult circumstances. Each game he plays he does so as a tribute to his uncle.

“It was his idea to put me behind the plate,” said Vinnie, whose uncle was his first Little League coach. “He was a catcher – and a pretty danged good one.”

In an interview with John Blanchette of the Spokesman-Review noted the inspiration he takes from his uncle.

“Absolutely, I take a lot of inspiration from my uncle – not just him, but everyone who helped me get here,” said DiFazio. “And even though I miss him every day, I know I’m making him proud.”

If Vin DiFazio is, in fact, now in the Dodger fold, hopefully he will get to play at the AAA level with the Oklahoma City Dodgers during the 2016 season.

You just can’t have too many guys who play for the love of the game … and family.