When Isaiah J. Pagan was on the mound, this tenacious baseball player never backed down from a challenge. Thanks to a level of dedication lacking in most teenagers and guidance from his father as a coach, he became such a talented pitcher and centerfielder that he was being recruited by several university teams.
“He always looked forward to the best pitchers or the best players because it always brought out the extra in him,” said his dad, Luis Pagan, who noted that his fastball topped out at 89 mph. “He started at an early age and there were a lot of colleges recruiting him. Florida, Michigan, Virginia.”
He filmed highlight videos for NCSA College Recruiting and Prep Baseball Report and was planning to go to tryouts in Florida with his father. But his baseball dreams were benched when Luis was nearly paralyzed in a car accident. Instead of derailing him, the tragedy only gave Isaiah another moment to show his character. He helped his father relearn to walk.
As Isaiah switched gears, he was determined to help support the family after his father was left unable to work. So in September 2023 he started an apprenticeship program as a glazer. Learning to work with windows and other glass products, he would have taken a job that fit in well with his ultimate goal of opening his own real estate office. He had already saved up enough from many part-time jobs to buy a house, which he began renting out when he was only 18.
“He really stepped up to take care of me and his dad,” said his mother, Nancy Pagan.
Sadly, just a few months after joining the training program, Isaiah was one of four people shot inside a gas station in Frankford on Dec. 20, 2023. He was the only one who didn’t survive. He was 19.
Isaiah was born and raised in Frankford, the youngest by far of four siblings, Luis Jr., 37, Anthony, 33, and Crystal 25. A very energetic child—“the energy of a roadrunner,” said his dad—he always wanted to do things himself, which came as no surprise to his parents.
“When he learned to ride a bike, he taught himself. Skateboards, he taught himself,” said Luis. “He wound up getting into karate at age of 5, won a couple championships, then went into skateboarding. He always challenged himself.”
Don’t think this kid was all business, though. He was a happy, goofy young man who loved to put a smile on people’s faces. “Loveable, huggable,” said his mom, who also laughed at the memory of how he loved to get under her skin.
“He knows when I get really upset,” said Nancy, still speaking of her son in the present tense. “But when he gets on my nerves, I laugh about it. I was teaching him to cook, and he’s like, ‘Mom, you’re doing this wrong!’ And I’m like, ‘no, no, no’ because I know what I’m doing.”
Isaiah knew he wanted to go into business for himself starting at 14, when he started cutting hair. He used that money to buy the supplies to open his own business tinting windows while working part-time at Papa John’s at 15. Then by age 16 or 17, he started making his own hats and T-shirts, all the while succeeding in school as well. He graduated from Franklintown Charter High School the year he was killed.
“This kid, I’m telling you,” said Luis. “His mind was so big, but he did all that. He was going to succeed on something.”
Luis said he might have learned as much, if not more, from Isaiah as the other way around. Values such as patience, compassion and calm were part of Isaiah’s attitude, and he passed on those lessons to his father while on the baseball field.
“I was his baseball coach from 5 years until 16, and I was his basketball coach until 15. So we spent a lot of time together,” Luis said, pausing to hold back tears. “And every time I was hard on someone, because I never wanted to lose, he’d always say, ‘Pop, you can’t criticize him, you got to know him. He’s either dealing with issues of mom and dad, or he wasn’t fortunate enough to learn more.’
“He’d always see the positive in everybody. He actually changed me a lot.”
Resources are available for people and communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Click here for more information.
