North Carolina First Baseman Plays Months After Losing Father, a 9/11 NYPD Responder

North Carolina first baseman Erik Paulsen Jr. m. at Boshamer Stadium. , died less than 11 months before May 29, 2026.

Paulsen Sr. was a Long Islander living in Massapequa and working as an NYPD detective in Brooklyn. Paulsen Sr. played college baseball at Misericordia University and Farmingdale State. He was a staple of Long Island adult baseball leagues and owned two season tickets at Yankee Stadium.

On a Tuesday morning in September 2001, Paulsen Sr. responded to the World Trade Center attacks on his day off. He worked at Ground Zero for three days straight beginning on September 11, 2001, and spent 2½ months combing through debris.

"He didn't really like talking about it much," Erik Paulsen Jr. said. "From the time he first got there, he was at ground zero for three days straight, digging through the rubble. 's mother.

He was very proud of it, and he was never worried about himself. " "He loved baseball more than anyone I've known, or you've ever known, trust me. And he was an American hero," Erik Paulsen Jr. said of his father.

ESPN reported that Paulsen Jr. tells stories about his late father with a smile on his face. The story was originally published on May 29, 2026, and updated ahead of the Chapel Hill Super Regional. Paulsen Sr.

Was a veteran of the NYPD when the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred.