Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Henderson is home base for nation’s best power hitter

Denny Crine

Christopher DeVargas

Denny Crine has won the “Long Haul Bombers” tour four times since 2008, regularly blasting slow-pitch softball home runs of 450 feet or more.

Denny Crine's hitting tips

The softballs launched off Denny Crine’s bat with relative ease, producing home run after home run deep into the left field bleachers at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

Moments before the Twins were scheduled to take the field, Crine’s display on the home run-hitting “Long Haul Bombers Tour” impressed many — including the big leaguers. The tour travels each summer to professional parks for competition before or after games.

“It’s before a game with the White Sox, and Torii Hunter and some of the other players come out of the dugout,” said Jim Hoscheit, general manager of bat manufacturer Miken Sports. “Denny is hitting the softball farther than they can hit a baseball. They are smiling and laughing about how far the balls were going.”

With each home run, the fans grow more excited. And so does Crine, a 41-year-old Henderson resident.

“The crowd always appreciates it because they usually don’t see the balls land where we hit them,” said Crine, whose nickname is “Grand Slam.”

Crine, a Basic High product, started playing softball in the late 1990s to fuel his competitive juices after a brief minor league stint in the White Sox organization. Never did he imagine a hobby would turn into touring the nation to compete in stadiums on the bombers tour and playing with Team USA.

Crine is considered one of the game’s best home run hitters, a claim supported by winning the bombers tour four times since 2008. He’s so respected that Miken Sports pays him to endorse its gear, including creating his signature bat, the DC 41. The metal composite bat is designed to allow maximum bat speed, up to 120 mph for Crine. It retails for $299.

Crine’s home runs regularly reach 450 feet, which in some venues is more than 100 feet over the fence. Whether it’s playing with a local league, on the competitive travel circuit or with Team USA, 6-foot-6, 315-pound Crine usually finds a way to connect on multiple home runs. In March, the first baseman was named USA Softball’s Slow Pitch Male Athlete of the Year, batting .680 with a team-high seven home runs over 25 at-bats in six games for the national team.

“He’s the best at it; there is no question,” Hoscheit said. “He’s a mammoth of a man. He’s very calm (when batting) and very confident yet humble as well.”

In 2012, Crine beat former major leaguer Jose Canseco in a home run-hitting contest for charity before a minor league game in Southern California. The matchup was billed as the “two best home run hitters on the planet.” Crine was a pitcher in baseball but never faced Canseco — one of the best of his generation, with 462 career home runs — because Crine’s career was short-lived due to arm injuries.

“Have you ever seen this man hit?” Canseco asked before the competition. “He is so consistent; it is amazing. He is what you call smooth power.”

Crine has competed in big league stadiums in Seattle, Pittsburgh, New York and Miami. His favorite venue is Petco Park in San Diego, where there’s a perfect target: the historic Western Metal Supply Co. building incorporated into left field. While the building is just 334 feet from home plate, the roof is 80 feet high, and balls rarely reach the top of the four-story building. Crine’s home runs have traveled over the building multiple times.

“I’m going up there to drive the ball. You are talking about thousands of swings over and over again,” said Crine, who works as a middle school teacher and high school baseball coach.

Competitors get 15 swings in tour events, and Crine typically finishes with double-digit home runs. He has won cars, motorcycles and cash. He also has earned celebrity as one of Miken’s ambassadors. He represents the company at tournaments and conventions across the country and often is flooded with autograph requests or questions about how to hit. Miken has signature bats for a few other players, but Crine is in a class of his own, Hoscheit said.

“Denny is such a likable guy,” Hoscheit said. “He’s such a good human being. Beyond that, he has been around the game a long time. He doesn’t talk for the sake of talking. It’s a very honest guy the average Joe trusts.”

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