Runnin' With Ray-Patrick Didder 

Speed is the name of Ray-Patrick Didder’s game. It is his legs that have led the 26-year-old from Aruba to begin the Rocket City Trash Pandas for the 2021 season.

The journey from the island nation in the Caribbean to North Alabama has been a long one for the infielder, with stops across three Major League organizations, a season interrupted, a trip abroad, and a fresh perspective on the world of baseball.

For Didder, the first step of that journey is, quite literally, a sprint.

“Every time I step in the box and I make contact, it’s going to be fun,” Didder said. “I’m always thinking about a triple. If it’s on the infield, I’m always trying to get to first to beat the throw every time. Every time I step in the box, if I make contact, it’s going to have a lot of speed that goes with it.”

That desire to reach third base paid off very early in the season for Didder and his Rocket City teammates. After losing the first two games in franchise history at Chattanooga, the Trash Pandas found themselves trailing 7-3 in the second game of a doubleheader on a cold and windy night against the Lookouts.

A furious four-run rally tied the game 7-7 before Didder stepped to the plate with the bases loaded. With one swing, Didder put the Trash Pandas ahead by lining the first Rocket City triple in franchise history to center, scoring the three runs that proved to be the difference in a 10-7 Trash Pandas win.

“That’s a special moment for me because it’s marked forever that I was the one who got that hit,” he recalled. “Being a part of that history is pretty cool.”

The game-winning triple was the first hit of the season for Didder, who was one of only a couple players on the Rocket City roster to play organized professional baseball during the 2020 season.

After signing with the San Diego Padres in the offseason, Didder reported to Spring Training in Arizona and was getting ready for the season before the baseball world was upended by the pandemic.

Suddenly back home in Aruba with no job and few prospects, Didder got a call from his agent that would change the course of his career. A team in Italy was interested in singing Didder after the Padres released him. But one obstacle remained before he could head overseas.

“I wanted to play but it all depended on what my mom said because COVID was a big issue in Italy last year,” Didder said. “But I told her that I should go there to play. I couldn’t stay at home and do nothing. For me, staying at home wasn’t the right decision and I spoke to my mom and told her I was going to Italy to play for six weeks.”

With his mom’s blessing and a contract signed, Didder joined Unipol Bologna of the Italian Baseball League and was one of the team’s top players, hitting .413 with two home runs, 18 RBI, 28 runs scored, and a team-leading 15 stolen bases over 22 games. But the situation on the field wasn’t the biggest learning experience for Didder.

“Here, there are a lot of Spanish kids that can’t speak English because it’s a different language they’ve never heard before. It was like that for me. I didn’t know any Italian,” he said. “When I was there, I didn’t know how to communicate with other players or order food at a restaurant. Now to know these Latin guys, the trouble they go through to learn the language. That was the first time I experienced that and it’s something I learned so now I know how they feel here.”

After returning to the U.S., Didder received an offer from the Los Angeles Angels and quickly signed for the 2021 season. That led him to Rocket City to start the year, and he picked his jersey number to honor his grandmother.

“The reason I picked number two this year is because my grandmother is sick. I was born on October 1 and she is October 2.,” he said. “For more than 15 years, they’ve been telling us that she wasn’t going to make it, but she has. She’s been battling for more than 15 years, and if she can do it I can make her proud and be good at what I’m doing to try and make the big leagues for her.”

On the field, Didder will continue to use his speed to represent the Rocket City and his family back in Aruba with his dream of playing Major League Baseball within reach.