David Denson

David Lamont Denson

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 254 lb.
• High School South Hills High School

• Born January 17, 1995 in La Puente, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

First baseman David Denson was a 15th round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2013 amateur draft, out of a high school in California. He began his professional career with the AZL Brewers that season, hitting .244/.385/.449 in 40 games, with 6 doubles and as many homers. After 6 games in the Arizona League in 2014, he moved up to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers of the Midwest League, a big jump for a 19-year-old with only one year of Rookie-level experience. He held his own, batting .243/.364/.350 in 68 games, with 10 doubles and 4 homers. His best feature, was his strike zone judgment, with 43 walks and 80 Ks.

In 2015 he was back at Wisconsin to begin the season, playing 24 games and hitting .195 in 82 at-bats before the short-season leagues started their season. He was assigned to the Helena Brewers of the Pioneer League in June, where he split his time between first base, the outfield and DH while playing nearly every day. He was named MVP of the Pioneer League All-Star Game after hitting a homer in the contest. It was however for a completely different reason that he made the news around the United States on August 15th, as that was the day that he publicly came out as gay. He was the first active player in organized baseball to do so, although Sean Conroy, a pitcher in the independent leagues, had done the same thing earlier that year. He had consulted with baseball's Ambassador for inclusion, Billy Bean, before deciding to speak to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to tell his story, after having spoken with his teammates, who reacted well to his revelation. All-Star outfielder Ryan Braun of the parent Brewers reacted by stating: "It’s a very courageous move on his part to be the first one, the first active player to make this announcement. Hopefully, everybody is at a point where we can just be supportive, not just understanding, but accepting and supportive of him and his situation." Braun's reaction was typical of the positive feedback around Major League Baseball, a sign that the sport had made some significant progress in better reflecting the views of society as a whole on such an issue. He finished the year with a line of .242/.340/.412 in 51 games at Helena, in addition to his time in the Midwest League.

In 2016, he split the season between Wisconsin, where he played 93 games, and the Brevard County Manatees of the Advanced Class A Florida State League. He hit .231/.337/.378 in the MWL, with 18 doubles and 10 homers, but found the going rougher in the FSL, where he was limited to a batting average of .125.

Denson announced his retirement in March 2017 [1].

Further Reading

• Tom Haudricourt: "Brewers minor-leaguer makes baseball history by coming out publicly as gay", The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, August 15, 2015. [2]
• Adam McCalvy: "Denson: 'When you live life, you have to be happy': Brewers prospect humbled by support, focuses on baseball after revealing he's gay", mlb.com, August 20, 2015. [3]