Daniel James Nava (born February 22, 1983) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Tampa Bay Rays, and Kansas City Royals. Nava is only the fourth player in MLB history to hit a grand slam in his first major league at bat and the second to do it on the first pitch.

Nava was born in Redwood City, California. He played baseball at St. Francis High School in Mountain View, California and received his Psychology degree from Santa Clara University. He was 4 ft 8 in (1.42 m) and 70 pounds (32 kg) in his freshman year in high school and grew to 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) and 150 pounds (68 kg) by his senior year.

After an opportunity to walk-on to the Santa Clara University baseball team, he failed to make the team as a player and became the team equipment manager.

He left Santa Clara after two years because he could no longer afford the tuition. He then enrolled in the College of San Mateo (junior college). He tried out for the baseball team on the encouragement of an old friend he happened to run into at a gym. While at the College of San Mateo, he became a Junior College All-American. Later Santa Clara wanted him back and eventually offered him a full scholarship. He hit .395 with an on-base percentage of .494 in his lone season with the Broncos, both tops in the West Coast Conference, and earned first-team All-WCC honors. He stole 15 bases without being caught, and he had more walks (31) than strikeouts (29).

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