Odrisamer Despaigne tweets pics of his bruises from line drives

On April 21, 2015, in Curve Balls, San Diego
Proud of collecting his first major league hit at Coors Field on Monday night, San Diego Padres right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne jokingly boasted that he would need to get "a bigger closet" in order to accommodate all of the clothes his teammates were going to buy him after they lost a bet, thinking the hit would never come.
Proud of the two line drives he sustained on the mound — one that hit the left side of his chest above a nipple, the other off his left calf — Despaigne took to Twitter and showed off his bruises with photographic evidence. This is a 28-year-old, a Cuban who defected two years ago while his birth country's team toured Europe, who is all about sharing the great moments in his new life.
Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune bore witness to San Diego's 14-3 victory against the Colorado Rockies, highlighted by Despaigne's greatest hits — given and taken — so far. The Padres already were up by nine runs in the second inning when Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies lined a ball that Despaigne re-directed and slowed down, using his left leg like a soccer player might, before impressively picking up the ball and throwing out Gonzalez. Later in the same inning, Nick Hundley peppered Despaigne's chest with a line drive for an infield single, though the pitcher ably tried to throw him out as if the blow were nothing.
After the game, Despaigne tweeted out the pictures to show what he had endured:
 
Roughly in English: "Beaten, but happy for my first hit in the big leagues."
 
"Here's the other blow," he said in Spanish. (That's a lot of nipple, by the way, Odrisamer. Think of the elderly checking in on Twitter. And that's also a nasty discolored bruise. Ouch, babe.)
Via Lin's story in the U-T, teammates were proud of Despaigne for the base hit, a single to right field:
A few Padres players, including Cashner and outfielders Matt Kemp and Upton, lost a bet when Despaigne singled. Sometime in the coming days, they will take him shopping, presumably for additions to Despaigne's wardrobe.
The guy deserves it after pitching with a target on his uniform. And what a great reaction from the dugout by the Padres, who have a 9-5 record and are looking good in the early going in the NL West. So is Despaigne, who allowed two runs and six hits with five strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 1.47."If I'm going to have many days like this, I'll keep taking comebackers like this," Despaigne said.
David Brown/CBS Sports
 
 
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
Facebook Twitter

Comments are closed.



Go To Top »