{"id":154496,"date":"2023-06-26T13:14:23","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T04:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=154496&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2023-06-26T13:14:23","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T04:14:23","slug":"home-run-hero-despaigne-returns-to-softbank","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/news\/home-run-hero-despaigne-returns-to-softbank\/","title":{"rendered":"Home Run Hero Despaigne Returns to SoftBank"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alfredo Despaigne, a power hitter who has smashed 184 home runs over his 9-year professional baseball career, has re-signed with SoftBank. At 37 years old, Despaigne hails from Cuba. His professional baseball career spans nine years with three years at Lotte and six with SoftBank, during which time he earned a reputation as a powerful right-handed hitter with a tally of 184 home runs. He particularly shone in 2017 with SoftBank, hitting 35 home runs and earning 103 RBIs, leading him to become the Pacific League&#8217;s home run and RBI king. After leaving SoftBank after last season, Despaigne played in the Cuban domestic league. SoftBank, keen to recruit a right-handed batter with slugging power, re-signed him in mid-June. Despaigne will sport the number &#8217;25&#8217; and continue preparations to rejoin the first team for the game against Nippon Ham on July 4 at the PayPay Dome. <\/span><b>Source:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www3.nhk.or.jp\/fukuoka-news\/20230625\/5010020705.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NHK<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \/ <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oxhZvdBq3Fo\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TNC<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-154492\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/fnn_hawks-despaigne_2023_cl.jpg?resize=1400%2C788&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Home Run Hero Despaigne Returns to SoftBank\" width=\"1400\" height=\"788\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/fnn_hawks-despaigne_2023_cl.jpg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/fnn_hawks-despaigne_2023_cl.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/fnn_hawks-despaigne_2023_cl.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/fnn_hawks-despaigne_2023_cl.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stay informed with the latest Fukuoka &amp; Kyushu news and events in English. Sign up for our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">free weekly newsletter <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">today and never miss a beat. Opt out anytime, your privacy is our priority. Get the inside scoop with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Now<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Summaries based on public content, errors may occur during translation. Images credited independently. Send feedback using <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/contact\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this <\/span><b>form<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alfredo Despaigne, a power hitter who has smashed 184 home runs over his 9-year professional baseball career, has re-signed with SoftBank. At 37 years old, Despaigne hails from Cuba&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29305,"featured_media":154494,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-154496","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-fukuoka-prefecture","news-category-sports","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/154496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}