César Cedeño [THAY-sar thay-DAY-nyo] (born February 25, 1951 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played with the Houston Astros (1970-81), Cincinnati Reds (1982-85), St. Louis Cardinals (1985) and Los Angeles Dodgers (1986). He batted and threw right-handed.
Signed by Houston as an amateur free agent in 1967, Cedeño debuted on June 20, 1970 at 19 years of age. He never became "The next Willie Mays", as Houston manager Leo Durocher once suggested he would, but certainly he had a distinguished career and was a solid performer in the major leagues.
Cedeño showed signs of superstardom early in his career, batting .310 in his rookie season in 1970, and .320 in both 1972 and 1973. Possessing a rare combination of power, blazing speed and good defense, he became the only man in major league history to hit 20 home runs and steal 50 bases three years in a row (1972-74). He also stole 50-plus bases the next three years (1975-77), twice led the league in doubles (1971-72) and collected 102 RBI in 1974.
A winner of five consecutive Gold Gloves (1972-76), Cedeño appeared in four All-Star Games (1972-74, 1976), and was a contender for the National League MVP in 1972. In the same period, Cedeño hit for the cycle in both 1972 and 1976.
By 1985 Cedeño was one of the Reds' five active members of the 2000-hit club, along with Pete Rose, Tony Pérez, Dave Concepción and Buddy Bell. He finished his career with the Cardinals and Dodgers, and played his final game on June 2, 1986.
In a 17-year career, Cedeño was a .285 hitter with 199 home runs and 976 RBI in 2006 games. His 550 stolen bases rank him 25th on the all-time list.
After retiring, Cedeño has been both a fielding and hitting coach in the Dominican and Venezuelan winter leagues.
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- A talented player in the mold of Willie Mays, César Cedeño never reached superstar status for many reasons, some beyond his control. The Dominican-born Cedeño was involved in a scandalous off-the-field episode that resulted in the death of his girlfriend; played much of his career for a team that rarely made headlines above the Oklahoma border; suffered from playing in the Astrodome, a stadium that cost him power numbers that may have gave him notoriety; and finally, injuries and attitude problems cost him playing time. Despite all of that, Cedeño had a very good career, winning five Gold Gloves and finishing among league leaders in steals, batting average, and doubles on many occasions. -- Dan Holmes and Kirk Robinson, at The Baseball Page.
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Last updated: 05-23-2005 04:52:48
