| César Cedeño | |
|---|---|
 Cedeño,c. 1977 | |
| Center fielder | |
| Born: (1951-02-25)February 25, 1951 (age 74) 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 | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .285 |
| Hits | 2,087 |
| Home runs | 199 |
| Runs batted in | 976 |
| Stolen bases | 550 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
César Cedeño Encarnación (born February 25, 1951) is aDominican former professionalbaseball player andcoach. He played inMajor League Baseball as acenter fielder from 1970 to 1986, most prominently as a member of theHouston Astros where he helped the franchise win its first-ever National League Western Division title and postseason berth in1980.[1]
The four-timeAll-Star player combined speed and power to become one of the best all around players of his era.[2] Cedeño set the standards for major league outfielders in the early 1970s by winning five consecutiveGold Glove Awards between 1972 and 1976.[3] He became only the second player in Major League Baseball history to hit 20 home runs and steal 50 bases in one season,[4] and the only major leaguer to do so in three consecutive seasons. He also played for theCincinnati Reds,St. Louis Cardinals and theLos Angeles Dodgers.
After his playing career, Cedeño spent several years as aminor league hitting coach for the Astros and Nationals organizations. In 2020, Cedeño was inducted into the Houston Astros Hall of Fame.[2] Cedeño still holds the Astros team record for career stolen bases more than 40 years after last playing for the team.[4]
Signed by Houston as an amateurfree agent in1967, Cedeño debuted on June 20,1970, at 19 years of age. His .310batting average in his rookie season in1970, allowed him to finish 4th in the Rookie of the Year voting.[2] The next season, he led the major leagues indoubles.[5] On September 2 of that year, he hit an unusual home run: against theLos Angeles Dodgers in theAstrodome, with the bases loaded, he hit a blooper that dropped between the right fielder and second baseman, who collided with one another as the ball rolled away; Cedeno and the rest of his teammates scurried quickly to reach home plate for an inside-the-park grand slam.[6][7] The following season, his third, he again led in doubles, not just his league, but in the majors. He batted .320 in both 1972 and 1973. In 1972, Cedeño hit 22home runs, had 55stolen bases, and again led the league in doubles. He won aGold Glove Award that season as well. HoustonmanagerLeo Durocher once compared Cedeño toWillie Mays, saying "At 22 Cedeño is as good or better than Willie was at the same age".[5]
Possessing a rare combination of power, blazing speed, and good defense, Cedeño became the second man in Major League history (afterLou Brock in 1967) to join the20–50 club, hitting 20 home runs and stealing 50 bases in the same season. He accomplished the feat three years in a row (1972–1974), making him the only player in major league history to do so.[8] Further, he stole 50-plus bases the next three years (1975–1977), twice led the league in doubles (1971–1972) and collected 102RBI in the 1974 season.
Cedeño recorded his 1,000th career hit on July 2, 1976, against theCincinnati Reds, doing so on a single againstPat Zachry, which was the second of four hits he would record in the game (including a 14th inning home run to help boost the Astros to a 10–7 win).[9] Before his 26th birthday, Cedeño had accumulated 1,097 hits, the 13th highest total for a 25-year-old player in MLB history, having more thanRogers Hornsby (1,073) andMickey Mantle (1,080), both of whom were inducted into theBaseball Hall of Fame.[10]
On September 9, 1981, while playing atAtlanta Stadium, Cedeño entered the stands to confront a heckler.[11] No punches were thrown and no charges were filed, but Cedeño was ejected from the game and immediately suspended as a result.[11] On September 11, Cedeño was fined $5,000 by National League PresidentChub Feeney but received no further suspension, as Cedeño apologized to the fan on the phone and in writing which Feeney cited as "mitigating circumstances".[11]
Cedeño would finish in the top ten of stolen base leaders from 1971 to 1978 and again in 1980. His 550 stolen bases rank 27th all time as of January 2018.[1] A winner of five consecutiveGold Glove Awards (1972–1976), Cedeño appeared in fourAll-Star Games (1972–1974; 1976), and was a contender for theNational League MVP in 1972.In the All-Star Game of that year, Cedeño beat outRoberto Clemente for the starting National League position. Cedeño alsohit for the cycle in both 1972 and 1976.[12][13]
On December 18, 1981, Cedeño was traded to the Cincinnati Reds forRay Knight.[14] At the time of his departure from the Astros, he was the team's all-time leader in games played, runs, hits, doubles and stolen bases.[15]
Cedeño played in 138 games to begin his Reds career, batting .289 with 142 hits with 16 stolen bases while walking/striking out 41 times each. His next few years would be shaky with the Reds, as he played a combined 291 games over the next three seasons, which had peaks of a .291 batting average in 1985 and lows of .232 in 1983, and he would have more strikeouts than walks in each season as well (after doing so nine times in his 12-year career with Houston). Cedeno collected his 2,000th career hit on April 28, 1985, doing so in the fifth inning againstMike Krukow of theSan Francisco Giants atCandlestick Park.[16] This made him the fifth member of the Reds on the roster to be part of the 2,000-hit club, which includedPete Rose,Tony Pérez,Dave Concepción andBuddy Bell.
On August 29, 1985, he was traded to theSt. Louis Cardinals for Mark Jackson. With St. Louis he hit .434 with six home runs in 28 games, and arguably provided the necessary power for his new team to outpace theNew York Mets to reach the playoffs. With only one month left in the season, Cedeño had the Cardinals' longest hitting streak during their 1985 season.[17] He then played atfirst base to replace the injuredJack Clark in the final regular season games, and played in the outfield in the playoffs to help replace the injuredVince Coleman.
He finished his combined 1985 season by playing in 111 games while batting .291 with 14 stolen bases. Cedeno was granted free agency on November 12, 1985.
Cedeño finished his career with theDodgers and played his final game on June 2, 1986.
In between, Cedeño played six seasons for theEstrellas Orientales club of the Dominican Winter League, and reinforced theTigres del Licey in the1972 Caribbean Series. He later played with theGold Coast Suns of theSenior Professional Baseball Association in its 1989 inaugural season.
In 17 seasons, Cedeñoplayed in 2,006 games, compiling a .285batting average (2087-7310), with 436doubles, 60triples, 199home runs, 976RBI, 550stolen bases, 664walks, a .347on-base percentage and .443slugging percentage. In 17 post-season games, he hit only .173 (9-52). He played first base and all three outfield positions and recorded a .985fielding percentage.[1]
After retiring, Cedeño has been both a fielding and hittingcoach in theDominican andVenezuelanwinter leagues. He also served as a coach for the rookie-levelGulf Coast League farm team of theWashington Nationals before being let go in 2009. After that, he served as a hitting coach for theGreeneville Astros of theAppalachian League.[18]
On December 11, 1973, when he was 22 years old, Cedeño was involved in an incident in his nativeDominican Republic in which a gun discharged in a motel room, killing a 19-year-old woman who was in the room with him. Authorities said Cedeño and the woman were drinking and playing with a gun when the gun fired, killing the 19-year-old.[5] He was initially charged withvoluntary manslaughter[19] and held in prison without bail, while his lawyers negotiated for a reduction of the charge toinvoluntary manslaughter.[20] He was held for 20 days before he was released on bail.[21] He was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and fined $100.[22] Cedeño's reputation with fans suffered greatly for the remainder of his career,[22] and Cedeño thereafter never achieved a popularity with fans commensurate with his formidable on-field productivity.[5]
In 1992, Cedeño was charged with battery in Orlando, Florida, in an incident involving his then-pregnant girlfriend, Pamela Lamon. This followed a 1988 incident involving Lamon in which Cedeño was charged with assault, causing bodily injury, and resisting arrest.[23]
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | National League Player of the Month June 1972 September 1977 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Hitting for the cycle August 2, 1972 August 9, 1976 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
