Exciting pure potential on the rise, or what could have been...a five tool player who could do it all inviting comparisons to being the new Willie Mays of the 1970’s....glove, arm. power wrapped around speed .... Biggest cheerleader was colorful and controversial manager Leo Durocher....from his mid season debut in 1970, each year showed growth and got better than the next.....then winter 1973 a fatal shooting with a female companion in the Dominican Republic....exonerated of charges on the basis she had accidently shot herself but Cedeno’s legacy was forever tainted.....Although Cedeno’s made the all star team, set personal high marks for home runs and RBI, and captured his third of five consecutive glove gloves, in 1974 his BA descended 50 points to .269.....subsequent years rolled by Cedeno resurrects his BA to near .300 level....but power and eventually speed both elude him and assign him the journeyman tag....traded to Reds (best record in 1981) just to find the team in free fall.....solid numbers but lost playing time leading one to believe Astros may have got a better deal in the acquisition of Ray Knight....while age took its toll, briefly found lost youth as a late year pick up by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1985 with OPS 1.20+....did poorly in playoff however demonstrating his capacity as a veteran force was fleeting....wrapped up playing as Dodger in 1986....dabbled in Mexican League, the ill fated senior league baseball....found more steady coaching in the low minors....under the radar.....remained a “star” with sheer talent but but never added the prefix “Super”.
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