Alfredo Despaigne Rodríguez

Cuban baseball player, left fielder (LF) for the Granma and national teams; represented his country in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, as well as in the University World Series, in the latter with a notable performance.

Known by Granma fans as The Immense Despaigne, for his outstanding performance in national championships. He holds the absolute record for the most home runs hit in the editions of the National Baseball Series with 36, to which are added 5 in the postseason, with a personal mark of 41, hit in the LI National Baseball Series. After playing in the Mexican Baseball League, he accepted a contract in the Japanese Major Leagues with the Chiba Lotte Marines.

He was born in the municipality of Palma Soriano, Santiago de Cuba province. Son of Maricelis Rodríguez González and Alfredo Despaigne Maceo. He has a daughter named Rachel Beatriz Despaigne Rivero and a son named Alfredo, his partner is Yalili. He resides in the San Juan neighborhood, municipality of Bayamo, Granma province.

From childhood he participated in all categories of youth baseball, obtaining good results. At age 17 he moved to the Simón Bolívar and Palacios Higher Athletic Improvement School, in Granma province due to being denied the opportunity to join teams in Santiago de Cuba because of his small stature. He was discovered by Professor Ángel Guillermo Ortega Liens and upon seeing the abilities he possessed, he joined the provincial youth team.

In the second year with this team and due to the excellent results obtained in the National Youth Baseball Championship campaign, national runner-up in that season, he was called to join the Cuba Youth team, where he participated in the world championship in Taipei, China, becoming champion that year.

In 2004 he joins the Granma team in the XLIII National Baseball Series, first wearing number 56 and defending left field, standing out offensively by connecting 100 hits in 320 at-bats for an offensive average of 313 with 17 doubles, 5 triples and 10 home runs. In 2005 he again joins the provincial team and on that occasion he wears number 54, which has distinguished him since then.

In the XLVIII National Baseball Series, 2008-2009, he sets a new home run record, breaking the one held by Alexei Bell of Santiago de Cuba, by hitting 32 home runs beyond the limits of Cuban fields, for which he was selected the most valuable player of the season.

In the 2009-2010 season, in the XLIX National Baseball Series, he demonstrates power and leads several departments including batting with 404, in home runs this time with 31, one short of his personal record and in slugging 814, ties the doubles record held by Pinar's Michel Enríquez with 37, and sets another for extra-base hits in a series with 68 (2B:37-3B:0-HR:31). For the second consecutive time he is selected the most valuable player of the series.

He is the second player in national series to simultaneously lead home runs and average in a season, —besides Orestes Kindelán Olivares in his triple crown of 1989—, was escorted in positions two and three by Spiritu third baseman Yulieski Gourriel and first baseman from Cienfuegos José Dariel Abreu. They formed a trio that for the first time in domestic baseball history exceeded the 30 home runs barrier each.

In Series LI he had another notable performance: He recovered the absolute home run record (which he had lost the previous year to Yoenis Céspedes Milanés and José Dariel Abreu), by connecting 36, to which are added 5 in the postseason, with a personal mark of 41. He was also selected as a member of the All-Stars Team of the championship thanks to his 117 runs batted in, his excellent OBP of 475 and his OPS of 1.162. Despaigne was selected as the MVP of the regular season, narrowly surpassing in the year's voting the also stellar José Dariel Abreu[3].

During the LII National Baseball Series, as Granma did not qualify for the second phase of the season after a new structure was imposed, Despaigne was chosen in the first round as reinforcement for the Pinar del Río team, the ninth with which he finished the championship before leaving to play professionally in the Mexican Baseball League[4]. That year he was also included in the All-Stars Offensive roster of the LII National Baseball Series.

In Series LIII he became available again as reinforcement when Granma again fell outside the top eight. On this occasion he was the first reinforcement requested of the 40 that were requested and then went to wear the Santiago de Cuba uniform until the end of that season[5] although he could do little for that team which finished relegated in the standings with a performance well below his historical performances.

Series LIV was particularly atypical in Despaigne's career, since he did not begin playing with his Granma team because he was playing in the Japanese League, signed by the Chiba Lotte Marines. However, upon returning to Cuba, almost finishing the first phase and with his Granma team virtually qualified, he immediately joined the roster of the Alazanes. In December 2014 he was selected by popular vote as part of the Eastern Stars who faced their Western counterparts in the All-Stars Game corresponding to Series 54. There Despaigne won the home run derby by surpassing with three hits beyond the fences his Cuba teammates, Alexander Malleta and Alexei Bell, who each hit two.

On June 21, 2013, by national strategy, it was agreed by the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) that Despaigne and Yordanis Samón would join Michel Enríquez to play on the Piratas de Campeche baseball team, of the Mexican Baseball League. His debut in this league occurred on June 21 against the Vaqueros de la Laguna.

After few games Michel Enríquez was sidelined by injury and Samón was substituted due to poor performance, leaving Despaigne as the only Cuban on the Piratas roster. In July, in the game against the Saraperos de Saltillo, he tied one of the oldest records in Mexican baseball set by Cuban Martín Dihígo by going 6-6 at the plate.

On May 12, 2014, Despaigne was temporarily suspended from the Mexican Baseball League (LMB) when journalist Enrique Rojas of the ESPN network reported the alleged illegality of his passport[9]. Despaigne arrived in Cuba on May 19, stating that:

"I am confident that my image will not be damaged in Mexico and much less in Cuba, because we have nothing to do with the passport case. Now I will spend some time with my family, waiting for the authorities of the Piratas and the Mexican League to clarify the situation." Finally, Despaigne would not be able to continue playing in the Mexican League due to regulations imposed on it by Major League Baseball, which prohibits its dependent leagues from signing Cuban baseball players residing in Cuba, due to the extraterritorial provisions of the U.S. blockade against Cuba.

Free of his contractual obligations with the Piratas, Despaigne became available to be signed by another team; an opportunity that did not go unnoticed by the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese League, which signed the Cuban, and on July 29, 2014, Alfredo Despaigne made his debut in the first category of Japanese baseball, after declining to play in the Minor Leagues (an option offered by the club). In his first game in Japan's Major Leagues, the Granma player batted sixth in the order and as designated hitter and went 4-1, with one run scored and one RBI.

Finally, Despaigne would be a sensation in the NPB, averaging 311, hitting 12 home runs and driving in 33 runs in just 45 games. This result motivated the Japanese team to offer the Cuban a new contract, this time for two seasons and 500 million yen (4.1 million dollars), which could increase to 800 million yen (6.7 million dollars) with incentives[13].

Despaigne was part of the pre-selection for the I World Baseball Classic (2006), which he did not join. Due to his results in Series 2004-2005 he participated in the ALBA Sports Games held in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

He played in 2007 in the World Baseball Championship in Taipei, China, obtaining the silver medal. He attended the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in China where the Cuban team finished 2nd and obtained the silver medal after losing a dramatic game to South Korea. Here he demonstrated his baseball skills and in 34 at-bats connected 13 hits for 382 batting average with 2 doubles, one triple and 3 home runs.

The year 2009 unfolds and the World Championship is held in several European cities. Despaigne breaks a world record by connecting 11 home runs in such a tournament, before the record was 9 set by Orestes Kindelán. The batting average was notable by connecting 24 hits in 55 at-bats for an average of 436 and an elevated slugging of 1127. Thanks to that performance, the Cuba team obtained first place in this tournament. He also joined the team that participated in the II World Baseball Classic (2009) held in Los Angeles, California, United States.

In 2010 he participates in several international events, and due to his outstanding work he was selected as the best athlete of the year in team sports. The following year he participated in Canada in the so-called World Baseball Challenge in which he had a notable performance being leader in home runs by connecting five in 36 official at-bats, although he averaged only 250, below the team average.

In June 2012 he was called again to the national baseball team to face the Nicaragua team in a warm-up game between both teams.

He joined the Team Cuba roster in the III World Baseball Classic (2013) held in March 2013 in Japan, participating in the games of the qualifying stage, where the Cuban team did not advance to the semifinals, remaining on the All-Stars team roster among individual batting leaders, among the first in home runs hit and runs batted in.

In 2014 Team Cuba manager Víctor Mesa called him to the very strong Cuban team that competed in the baseball tournament of the XXII Central American and Caribbean Games Veracruz 2014, winning the gold medal. In this event, Despaigne performed as fourth batter and compiled a very high average of 471, the best of the tournament, tied with his teammate Dainer Moreira[15].

He participates in the 57 Caribbean Baseball Series 2015 held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, joining the Vegueros de Pinar del Río team under the command of Alfonso Urquiola, becoming champions in a close contest that took place at the Hiram Bithorn stadium, defeating 3-2 the Tomateros de Culiacán from Mexico, returning to Cuba the title in the series, a crown awaited for 55 years by the national fans.

In July of that year he joined the national team again, this time commanded by Ciego de Ávila manager Róger Machado, which participated in the XVII Pan American Games held in Toronto, Canada, a tournament in which Cuba obtained the bronze medal.

Palmarés
2004: Youth World Champion (China Taipei).
2008: Olympic Runner-up (Beijing-China).
2010: University World Champion (Japan).
2010: Intercontinental Champion (China Taipei).
2009-2010: Most Valuable Player in National Series.
2009-2010: Best athlete of the year in team sports.
He was a delegate to the World Festival of Youth and Students in South Africa.
2011: World Baseball Challenge Champion (Canada).
2011: World Baseball Cup Runner-up (Panama).
2011: Bronze Medal in the Pan American Games, Guadalajara (Mexico).
2012: Haarlem Baseball Tournament Champion, Amsterdam, Holland.
2013: Selected among the ten outstanding athletes of the year.
2014: Central American Champion in Veracruz 2014.
2015: 57 Caribbean Baseball Series Champion, held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
2015: Selected by the survey organized by INDER and the specialized press as Cuba's best male athlete in team sports.
2016: Selected to participate in the IV World Baseball Classic.
2017: Selected in the annual voting of INDER and the specialized press as the best male athlete in team sports this year in Cuba.
2018: Selected by INDER authorities and specialized press from the nation to the provinces, as Cuba's best male athlete in team sports this year.