Celebrity Lifecastings
He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Japanese. Destrade played parts of five seasons in Japan with Seibu Lions and led the Pacific League in home runs for three consecutive seasons (1990-92). He belted 42 round trippers in 1990. 39 in 1991 and 41 in 1992. In 1989, his first season in Japan, he hit 32 home runs in only 83 games, after joining the Lions in late May. With Destrade in the lineup, the Lions made up 11-1/2 games in the standings and moved into first place in August.
Destrade, who came to the United States from Cuba with his family at the age of six, drew on those experiences to help him settle so comfortably in Japan. “I remembered how my parents adapted to life in the states when we moved,” say Destrade. “They made life for me far from the difficult situation it could have been.
After a college career that saw him earn junior college All-American honors
at Florida College in St. Petersburg, Florida, Destrade entered the Yankees
minor league system.
While playing in the Yankees’ system, Destrade became “like an older brother” to many of the young Latin American players who, unlike Destrade, were getting their first taste of the United States.
After breaking in with the Yankees in 1987, Destrade played a year with the Pirates before starting his spectacular career in Japan. He returned to the Major Leagues with the Florida Marlins in 1993, their first year.
Destrade, Save Magadan, and Walt Weiss were the veteran leaders for the
Marlins that year. Destrade led the club with 20 home runs and 87 runs batted in, and, unofficially, community activities. It’s a practice he has already started with the Devil Rays. When he is not involved in the international scouting operation, Destrade gives much of his time to Tampa Bay Area charities. He has already appeared at more then one hundred events representing the Devil Rays and is the chief liaison between the club and the community. Orestes oversees the Devil Rays youth clinics featuring the organization’s minor league players.
