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César Cedeño Encarnación (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈθesar θeˈðeɲo]; 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.
| César Cedeño | |
|---|---|
| Center fielder | |
| Born: February 25, 1951 (1951-02-25) (age 60)Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | |
| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| June 20, 1970 for the Houston Astros | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 2, 1986 for the Los Angeles Dodgers | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .285 |
| Home runs | 199 |
| Runs batted in | 976 |
| Stolen bases | 550 |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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 second man in Major League history (after Lou Brock in 1967) to hit 20 home runs and steal 50 bases in one season. Cedeño accomplished the feat three years in a row (1972-1974). He also stole 50-plus bases the next three years (1975-1977), twice led the league in doubles (1971-1972) and collected 102 RBI in 1974.
On the negative side, Cedeño's career was hampered by an aggressive fielding style which often led to injuries. His time in the majors was also dogged by an incident in which his gun accidentally discharged in a motel room, killing his girlfriend.
A winner of five consecutive Gold Glove Awards (1972-1976), Cedeño appeared in four All-Star Games (1972-1974, 1976), and was a contender for the National League MVP in 1972. In the 1972 All-Star game, Cedeño beat out Roberto Clemente for the starting NL position. Cedeño also 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. On August 29, 1985, he was traded for an outfielder named Mark Jackson to the St. Louis Cardinals where he hit .434 with 6 home runs in 28 games and arguably provided the necessary power for his new team to outpace the New York Mets to reach the playoffs; he played first base to replace the injured Jack Clark in the final regular season games and played in the outfield in the playoffs to help replace the injured Vince Coleman. He finished his career with the 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, and the 487 steals he accumulated with the Astros ranks him first on the franchise's all-time leader list ahead of superstar Craig Biggio.
After retiring, Cedeño has been both a fielding and hitting coach in the Dominican and Venezuelan winter leagues. He also served as a coach for the rookie-level Gulf Coast League farm team of the Washington Nationals before being let go in 2009.
[edit] See also[]
- List of NL Gold Glove Winners at Outfield
- List of major league players with 2,000 hits
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
- Hitting for the cycle
- Players from Dominican Republic in MLB
- List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
- List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
- List of Major League Baseball doubles champions
- Hitting for the cycle
[edit] Quote[]
- 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.
[edit] External links[]
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
- Baseball Library (profile)
| Preceded by | National League Player of the Month
June 1972 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League Player of the Month
September 1977 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Houston Astros Longest Hitting Streak
1977-1981 |
Succeeded by |
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