Delino Deshields went from quasi anonymous Astros minor leaguer to social media sensation after a graphic picture of his swollen face after being hit by a 90-MPH fastball went viral.
DeShields has been quite the good sport following the scary ordeal and is even ready to get back on the field. Fox Sports’ Jimmy Traina interviewed him now that he’s become a bit of a household name/urban baseball legend.
Here are some of the memorable quotes from DeShields:
FS: When did your face blow up the way it did?
DD: It blew up immediately.
FS: Have you teammates ribbed you about the injury?
DD: At first my teammates were very concerned and worried, but once they saw the picture of me with my thumbs up and saw I was in good spirits, they knew it was OK to be funny with it. So I heard that I looked like professor Klump from “Nutty Professor” and I also got that I looked like a Ninja Turtle, so those made me laugh.
FS: How are you doing now?
DD: Right now I’m going great, man. I’m in high spirits, and, like I said, I’m just blessed that God is giving me a second chance to play the game I love. It’s just a minor setback. There’s gotta be some major stuff that needs to happen to me before I can’t step back on the field against my own will.
FS: You seem to have a good sense of humor about this. When were you able to laugh about it?
DD: I do have a good sense of humor about it because it could be a lot worse and I’m not dead. I’m still able to enjoy what life has to offer and that’s always something to be happy about. It’s funny you ask this because the first time I laughed was actually when I got hit and was on the ground. As soon as I gained consciousness, the first thing I felt for were my teeth. If anyone knows me. they know how much I love my teeth and my smile. It’s my money maker. Hahaha. But I was on the ground, felt for my teeth took a huge breath of relief and said, “at least all my teeth are still in,” and we all chuckled a little bit while I was on the ground because who would be concerned about their teeth after they just got squared up in the face with a fastball, so that was pretty funny. I’m already looking back at this and still making jokes and laughing about it.
FS: When did you know you were going viral?
DD: I realized the night that it happened. My buddy who tweeted the picture at me first said that he got a couple thousand retweets after my initial retweet. Then the next day, I honestly couldn’t believe how fast and how many people saw my picture. I had friends calling me from across the country saying that my face was on local news and all sorts of stuff. Kind of a weird way to go viral, but going viral is still going viral, you know what I mean. The power of social media is insane!
This kid is incredible! Wishing him a very speedy recovery