Despaigne New Cuba Home Run King
HAVANA TIMES, April 3 — In the second inning on Tuesday night April 3 (2012) in Havana’s Latin American Stadium Granma’s Alfredo Despaigne cracked home run number 34 of the current National Series season.
It was the first of two loud Despaigne cannon shots on the night that highlighted a 21-10 romp over Havana Industriales before an enthusiastic crowd announced at slightly above 12,000 partisans. Despaigne’s two homers capped a season-long pursuit of a new league home run standard that the Granma slugger himself had surrendered only one season back.
The historic blast number 33 to topple the old record (set by José Dariel Abreu and Yoennis Céspedes in National Series #50) came off a delivery from Industriales southpaw Ian Rendón. Four innings later Despaigne punctuated his historic night by belting a second round tripper off reliever Roberto Santiesteban. On the night the Granma Stallion (known in Cuba as “El Caballo de los Caballos”) also added five RBI to his season’s total, leaving him now only 13 short of the league record of Alexei Bell (111) set in National Series #47 (2008). Yulieski Gourriel is the only other Cuban Leaguer to reach triple figures (with 105 in NS #49) in the RBI column.
Despaigne saved the island’s biggest stage (spacious and historic Latin American Stadium) for his record-setting performance and he also banged out the record breaker in spectacular fashion – a 400 foot line drive on which his bat broke off at the handle as he made contact with the Mizuno 200 baseball. Only a slugger of Despaigne’s extraordinary strength could club a ball that far on a swing that left him with only the bat handle remaining in his grasp.
With eleven games remaining in the season Despaigne now sits in a position to further extend the record he himself last held after the 2009-2010 season (when he belted 32 in the 90-game campaign). Despaigne lost that mark to Abreu and Céspedes last winter when he trailed the pair by a half dozen, despite missing the entire first month of the season while on a government-sponsored mission to the World Youth Congress. After being held to 27 long balls (in only 67 games) last season, Despaigne exploded in the post-season where he added six more for a final total of 33 on the year. In Cuban League play homers hit during the playoffs are added to career totals but do not count toward single-season records. Last night’s dramatic pair of blasts lifted Despaigne’s lifetime total to 199 (this is his eighth season) leaving him now on the doorstep of still another impressive career milestone.
Below is this season’s Despaigne Home Run Log now updated through last night’s action.
Alfredo Despaigne’s Home Run Inventory for National Series #51 (2011-2012)
Complied by Peter C. Bjarkman
| HR | Game | Date | Stadium | Inning | Pitcher (Throws) Team |
| #35 | #85 | April 3, 2012 | Latinoamericano | Sixth | Roberto Santiesteban (RHP) Industriales |
| #34 | #85 | April 3, 2012 | Latinoamericano | Second | Ian Rendón (LHP) Industriales |
| #33 | #82 | March 28, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | Sixth | Miguel Lahera (RHP) Artemisa |
| #32 | #81 | March 28, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | First | Miguel Lahera (RHP) Artemisa |
| #31 | #74 | March 18, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | Fifth | Ciro Silvino Licea (RHP) Guantánamo |
| #30 | #73 | March 17, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | Second | Dalier Hinojosa (RHP) Guantánamo |
| #29 | #66 | March 7, 2012 | Cinco de Septiembre | Fifth | Jorge Hernández (RHP) Cienfuegos |
| #28 | #63 | March 4, 2012 | Cinco de Septiembre | Seventh | Yuniel Leiva (LHP) Cienfuegos |
| #27 | #59 | February 27, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | Eighth | Reinier Verano (RHP) Pinar del Río |
| #26* | #58 | February 26, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | Fourth | Michel Martínez (RHP) Pinar del Río |
| #25* | #58 | February 26, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | First | Yosvani Torres (RHP) Pinar del Río |
| #24 | #57 | February 25, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | Fifth | Yaifredo Dominguez (RHP) Pinar del Río |
| #23 | #56 | February 23, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | First | Joel Suárez (RHP) Matanzas |
| #22 | #54 | February 21, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | Seventh | Yohan Hernández (RHP) Matanzas |
| #21 | #48 | February 10, 2012 | Candido González | First | Yoan Fabre (RHP) Matanzas |
| #20 | #46 | February 7, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | Fifth | Luis Suárez (RHP) Isla de la Juventud |
| #19* | #45 | February 5, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | Eighth | Jorge Despaigne (RHP) Isla de la Juventud |
| #18* | #45 | February 5, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | First | Wilber Pérez (LHP) Isla de la Juventud |
| #17 | #42 | February 1, 2012 | José Antonio Huelga | Sixth | Jorge Pérez (RHP) Sancti Spíritus |
| #16 | #41 | January 30, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | Fifth | Yusmel Aguilar (RHP) Holguín |
| #15 | #40 | January 29, 2012 | Diez de Octubre | First | Juan Cruz (RHP) Holguín |
| #14 | #39 | January 28, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | First | Raimar Navarro (RHP) Holguín |
| #13 | #38 | January 22, 2012 | Martires de Barbados | Second | Darwin Beltrán (RHP) Industriales |
| #12* | #35 | January 18, 2012 | Heroes de Mayabeque | Sixth | Lenier Rodríguez (RHP) Mayabeque |
| #11* | #35 | January 18, 2012 | Heroes de Mayabeque | Fifth | Lenier Rodríguez (RHP) Mayabeque |
| #10 | #33 | January 16, 2012 | Nelson Fernández | Ninth | Mario Batista (LHP) Mayabeque |
| #9* | #32 | January 14, 2012 | Severino Méndez | Ninth | Jonder Martínez (RHP) Artemisa |
| #8* | #32 | January 14, 2012 | Severino Méndez | Fifth | José Padrón (RHP) Artemisa |
| #7 | #27 | January 5, 2012 | Nguyen Van Troi | Second | Yoennis Turcas (RHP) Guantánamo |
| #6 | #13 | December 16, 2011 | Changa Mederos | First | Ebris Martínez (RHP) Metropolitanos |
| #5 | #12 | December 14, 2011 | Capitan San Luis | Sixth | Isbel Hernández (RHP) Pinar del Río |
| #4 | #11 | December 13, 2011 | Capitan San Luis | Fourth | Yosvani Torres (RHP) Pinar del Río |
| #3 | #7 | December 7, 2011 | Victoria de Girón | Tenth | Yasmani Arias (RHP) Matanzas |
| #2 | #6 | December 5, 2011 | Augusto César Sandino | First | Misael Siverio (LHP) Villa Clara |
| #1 | #2 | November 30, 2011 | Martires de Barbados | Ninth | Yoandri Quiala (RHP) Camagüey |
Cumulative Notes on Alfredo Despaigne:
Despaigne’s Home Run Ratio: 8.74 (Number of At-Bats per Homer Run)
Home Runs by Month: November (1), December (5), January (10), February (11), March (6), April (2)
Home Runs versus Pitching Orientation: against right-handers (29), against left-handers (6)
Multiple Home Runs versus Single Pitcher: 3 (versus Miguel Lahera [Artemisa], Lenier Rodríguez [Mayabeque] and Yosvani Torres [Pinar del Río])
Home Runs in Ballparks: Home (18), Road (17)
Home Roads in Specific Ballparks: Martires de Barbados (Granma) 17, Latinoamericano (Havana) 2, Capitan San Luis (Pinar del Río) 2, Severino Méndez (Bauta) 2, Heroes de Mayabeque (Güines) 2, Cinco de Septiembre (Cienfuegos) 2, Candido González (Camagüey) 1, José Antonio Huelga (Sancti Spíritus) 1, Augusto César Sandino (Villa Clara) 1, Changa Mederos (Habana) 1, Nguyen Van Troi (Guantánamo) 1, Nelson Fernández (San José de Las Lajas) 1, 10 de Octubre (Yara) 1, Victoria de Girón (Matanzas) 1
Home Runs versus Teams (13 teams): Pinar del Río 6, Artemisa 4, Industriales 3, Holguín 3, Mayabeque 3, Matanzas 3, Isla de la Juventud 3, Guantánamo 3, Camagüey 2, Cienfuegos 2, Sancti Spíritus 1, Metropolitanos 1, Villa Clara 1
Teams Not Permitting a Despaigne Home Run in NS #51 (3 teams): Santiago de Cuba, Las Tunas, Ciego de Avila
Home Runs by Innings: First (9), Second (4), Third (0), Fourth (2), Fifth (7), Sixth (5), Seventh (2), Eighth (2), Ninth (3), Tenth (1)
Longest Consecutive Game Home Run Streak: 5 games (January 22 – February 1, 2012 in Games #38 – #42)
Longest Consecutive Game Streak without Home Runs: 13 games (December 17, 2011 – January 5, 2012)
*Multiple Home Run Games: 6 (January 14 versus Artemisa, January 18 versus Mayabeque, February 5 versus Isla de la Juventud, February 26 versus Pinar del Río, March 28 versus Artemisa, April 3 versus Industriales)
(*) Courtesy of Baseballdecuba.com