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David Denson

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David Denson
First baseman / Outfielder
Born: (1995-01-17) January 17, 1995 (age 30)
La Puente, California, U.S.
Bats: Left
Throws: Right

David Lamont Denson (born January 17, 1995) is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder. He played in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers organization. In 2015, Denson became the first active player affiliated with a Major League Baseball organization to publicly come out as gay.

Career

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As a high school senior at South Hills High School in West Covina, California in December 2012, Denson hit a 515-foot (157 m) home run (HR) in an annual amateur home run derby. The home run broke a distance record set by Bryce Harper in 2009. Denson proceeded to win the contest with 19 home runs.[1][2][3] A YouTube video of his record homer went viral, drawing over one million viewers.[4][5]

Denson played high school baseball in 2013 for the first time since his freshman year.[4][6][7] He was a Sierra League first-team selection after leading South Hills to a league championship while batting .446 with seven HRs, 11 doubles, two triples and 27 runs batted in (RBIs).[8]

The Milwaukee Brewers selected Denson in the 15th round of the 2013 MLB Draft. He signed with Milwaukee for $100,000.[9] Denson played for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers of the Class A Midwest League for most of 2014; in 68 games, he had a .243 batting average with four home runs and 29 RBIs.[10][11] He began the 2015 season with Wisconsin, but after batting .195 with one home run and eight RBIs in 24 games, he was demoted to the Helena Brewers of the Rookie-level Pioneer League.[10] With Helena, Denson was selected to play in the Northwest–Pioneer League All-Star Game. He was honored as the MiLB.com Top Star for the Pioneer League after hitting a pinch-hit home run while going 2-for-3 along with two RBIs and two runs scored.[11][12][13] In late August, the Brewers promoted Denson back to Wisconsin.[14]

After playing primarily as a first baseman through the 2015 season, Denson became an outfielder for the 2016 season.[15] He began the 2016 season with Wisconsin, and was later promoted to the Brevard County Manatees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League. During spring training in 2017, Denson announced his retirement from professional baseball.[16]

Personal life

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Denson's father, Lamont, is a former athlete. His sister, Celestine, is a professional dancer.[17]

During the 2015 season, while playing for Helena, Denson came out as gay to his teammates. In August 2015, with the help of Billy Bean, Major League Baseball's (MLB) Ambassador for Inclusion, Denson contacted the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel so that he could come out publicly. Denson became the first active player within a Major League Baseball organization to come out to the public.[17][18] He was also the second active pro baseball player to have come out.[a]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Sean Conroy was the first to come out in June 2015, when he was playing in an independent league for the Sonoma Stompers.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "High School slugger David Denson mashes 515-foot homer at Marlins Park in Miami (Video)". Yahoo Sports. January 2, 2013. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "17-Year-Old Baseball Player From West Covina Hits 515-Foot HR At Marlins Park". cbslocal.com. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  3. ^ Gruman, Andrew (June 8, 2013). "Brewers shore up farm system through MLB Draft". FoxSports.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Robledo, Fred J. (January 3, 2013). "Video: South Hills High's David Denson, 17, hits 515-foot home run at Florida competition". dailynews.com. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  5. ^ Rodig, Ryan (July 23, 2014). "Record-Holder Denson Brings Power Potential to Rattlers". WeAreGreenBay.com. Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015.
  6. ^ Sondheimer, Eric (January 8, 2013). "Baseball: Palisades infielder Elliott Barzilli won't play for team". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015.
  7. ^ Daniel, P. K. (May 21, 2012). "Alternative to high school baseball". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015.
  8. ^ Robledo, Fred J. (June 13, 2014). "2013 All-Area Baseball Team: South Hills' Adrian De Horta leads San Gabriel Valley Tribune picks". Los Angeles Daily News. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015.
  9. ^ McDaniel, Kiley (March 19, 2015). "Evaluating the Prospects: Milwaukee Brewers". Fangraphs. Archived from the original on August 21, 2015.
  10. ^ a b "David Denson, Milwaukee Brewers minor leaguer, is first openly gay professional baseball player". ESPN.com. Associated Press. August 15, 2015. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  11. ^ a b Stalwick, Howie (August 5, 2015). "Northwest League-Pioneer All-Star Game A Success". BaseballAmerica.com. Archived from the original on August 21, 2015.
  12. ^ Collingword, Ryan (August 4, 2015). "Denson enjoys All-Star experience". Helena Independent Record. Archived from the original on June 6, 2022.
  13. ^ Ravich, Jared (August 5, 2015). "Van Gansen delivers All-Star walk-off win". Minor League Baseball. Archived from the original on August 19, 2015.
  14. ^ Froberg, Tim (August 25, 2015). "Openly gay player returns to T-Rats". Appleton Post-Crescent. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  15. ^ Maun, Tyler (March 16, 2016). "Brewers' Denson shifts focus to defense: After historic 2015 season, Milwaukee slugger moving to the outfield". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
  16. ^ Wild, Danny (March 21, 2017). "Brewers' Denson announces retirement: Milwaukee infielder was affiliated baseball's lone openly gay player". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  17. ^ a b c Tom Haudricourt. "Brewers minor-leaguer makes baseball history by coming out publicly as gay". jsonline.com. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  18. ^ Daniel, Victor (August 17, 2015). "David Denson, Gay Minor Leaguer, Has Power but Faces Long Odds". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 21, 2015.
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