It’s hard to find Denis Phipps around Joe Bruno Stadium without a big smile on his face.

The 6'2'' slugger from the Dominican Republic loves baseball.

“I don’t want to miss when say I’m done,” said Phipps, from the dugout as he watches his teammates take batting practice. “I don’t want to miss, so I’m doing the best that I can.”

At 37 years old, his tank still appears to be far from empty.

The Tri-City ValleyCats frequent designated hitter is contesting to lead the Frontier League for home runs and runs batted in.

“It’s a long season. We glad we got hot at the right time,” Phipps said.

In mid-July, the former Cincinnati Reds major leaguer hit six home runs in three games. Phipp’s offensive production helped turn around the Valleycats’s season after the All-Star break, winning seven of nine games.

“We got a lot of speed,” Phipps said. “We got a lot of guys who can put the ball in play, and they can go yard anytime.”

Phipps has a lot of passion and love for a game he actually almost didn’t play at all. Basketball was his favorite sport growing up in the Dominican Republic.

“My brother say, ‘hey, you got to play baseball.’ I mean basketball is not big in Dominican. So he trained me for baseball, so he got me to baseball,” Phipps said.

Older brother knew what was best. His efforts, with Phipps’s hard work, has allowed him to making a living playing baseball all over the western hemisphere.

“You got family and they support what you do is always important. So my family is always going to be there,” Phipps said.

As long as Phipps remains around the game of baseball, he’s got one goal on mind.

“The goal is to win a championship here and I think we have a good chance to do it,” Phipps said.