December 11, 1973: César Cedeño, considered by some observers to be the best all-around player in baseball at the moment, is arrested for murder.
He was born on February 25, 1951 in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. The center fielder debuted with the Houston Astros in 1970. In 1972, he made the All-Star Game, and won a Gold Glove, each for the 1st time. He batted .320 with 22 home runs with 82 RBIs and 55 stolen bases. In 1973, he was again named to the All-Star Game, batting .320 again, hitting 25 home runs runs, with 70 RBIs, 56 stolen bases, and another Gold Glove.
Willie Mays, the greatest combination of power and speed in baseball history, was retiring. Many observers were looking to Cedeño as, possibly, "the next Willie Mays." Playing his home games in the pitcher-friendly Astrodome, he wasn't going to match Mays for power. But, with the dome having artificial turf, he could have been expected to put up better speed numbers.
After the 1973 season, he retired to his hometown of Santo Domingo with his wife, Cora. On December 9, he called the police to report a robbery, saying that $5,000 worth of his jewelry had been stolen from his room at the Keko Motel, where he was staying. He accused two prostitutes of stealing the money. A seedy motel on a shady side of town, with $5,000 worth of jewelry, and hookers were involved, with his wife back home? It seemed suspicious.
Two days later, he was spotted enjoying the local nightlife with a 19-year-old woman named Altagracia de la Cruz. They went back to Cedeño's room at the Keko at 2:00 AM, and were heard arguing. Cedeno, already visibly drunk, called the front office to order beer. A few minutes, later a gunshot was heard. Right after that, Cedeño was seen getting into his vehicle and leaving. But before he did, he yelled out to a motel employee that there was a dead woman in his room. The police were called, and de la Cruz was found with a bullet in her head.
The next morning, Cedeño turned himself in. The story he told was that de la Cruz was curious about the gun, and tried to take it from him. (So why did he have the gun in the first place/) The gun "accidentally fired when he tried to take it away from her." He was charged with voluntary manslaughter.
The Astros sent down a pack of associates, including their general manager, Harold "Spec" Richardson. Things moved fast: The charge was reduced to involuntary manslaughter. Then came, rather quickly, the trial. Cedeño's legal team said that, “Police paraffin tests had shown that the gun was indeed fired by Miss de la Cruz." But they don’t have evidence of any of these tests. There are no tests admitted to court, yet the police said they did the tests. The judge found Cedeño guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The sentence: A $100 fine and time served. No additional jail time, no community service, no counseling sessions. He just paid $100, and then flew back to Houston with the Astro employees.
This was in a foreign country, and there was no ESPN or CNN to cover it 24 hours a day, so the American media did not obsess over it. Many Americans never even heard about the case. And Bowie Kuhn, the Commissioner of Baseball? A man always willing to benefit the team owners and stick it to the players, over issues grand and petty? He did nothing. No ban. No suspension. Not even a fine. Perhaps Kuhn realized that Cedeño hadn't embarrassed baseball, and that making a big deal out of his actions would. Regardless of why Kuhn did nothing, the story was allowed to drift away.
In 1974, Cedeño batted just .269, but had career highs in home runs, with 26, and RBIs, with 102. He stole 57 bases, a career high at that point. He was again named to the All-Star Game, and was again awarded a Gold Glove. He was still, along with Reggie Jackson of the Oakland Athletics, Johnny Bench of the Cincinnati Reds, and Bobby Bonds of the San Francisco Giants, considered one of the best players in baseball.
His power stats dropped a little the next few seasons, but his batting average rose, and in 1977, he stole a career-high 61 bases. He was now 26 years old, a 4-time All-Star and a 5-time Gold Glove, with 1,241 hits, including 171 home runs, and 374 stole bases. It looked like he was on his way to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
But he never achieved the kind of stardom that had been expected. Fans stopped voting for him for the All-Star Game. Maybe stories about his back-home activities had become rumors they couldn't ignore. In 1980, he batted .309 with 10 homers, 73 RBIs and 48 stolen bases, and helped the Astros reach the postseason for the 1st time, coming within 1 run of their 1st Pennant. But he certainly wasn't the next Willie Mays anymore.
After the 1981 season, the Astros traded him to the Reds for 3rd baseman Ray Knight. Late in the 1985 season, the Reds traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals for a minor-leaguer. He played out the season with the Cards, and his contract ran out. After washing out of 1986 Spring Training with the Toronto Blue Jays, he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, played 37 games with them, and was released. He soon signed with the Cardinals, but was released without playing.
At the age of 22, he was considered the most exciting player in baseball. At 25, he was still an All-Star. At 31, he was still capable of batting .289 over a full season. At 35, he was done. He went on to bat .285, collected 2,087 hits including 199 home runs, and steal 550 bases. But he never became the all-time great people thought he would. He failed to get enough of the Hall of Fame vote in his first time on the ballot to stay on it. The Astros have elected him to their team Hall of Fame, but have never retired his Number 28.
In 1988, having divorced Cora, he found a new girlfriend, Pamela Lamon. He was charged with assault, causing bodily injury, and resisting arrest. In 1992, Cedeño was charged with battery in Orlando, Florida, in an incident involving Lamon, who was then pregnant.
He briefly worked as a coach in the minor-league systems of the Astros and the Washington Nationals, and in the Winter leagues in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. But after his last game as a player, he has never again worn a major league uniform.
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December 11, 1973 was a Tuesday. This was also the day that Johnny Carson made a remark on The Tonight Show that caused a toilet paper shortage in America.
Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were no games played in the ABA, but there were 7 in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Phoenix Suns, 105-97 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Buffalo Braves beat the Atlanta Hawks, 132-127 in overtime at The Omni in Atlanta. Bob McAdoo scored 37 points. Lou Hudson scored 40 in defeat.
* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 101-100 in overtime at the Cleveland Arena. Jerry West scored 32 points in defeat.
* The Golden State Warriors beat the Houston Rockets, 114-107 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Despite the Warriors' loss, Cazzie Russell led all scorers on the night with 49 points.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, 105-104 at the Chicago Stadium.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 130-91 at the Milwaukee Exposition and
Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA (now the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena).
* And the Capital Bullets (who became the Washington Bullets the next season and the Washington Wizards in 1997) beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 87-82 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.
There were 4 games in the NHL:
* The New York Islanders beat the California Golden Seals, 6-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Los Angeles Kings, 6-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in
the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-3 at the St. Louis Arena.
* And the Montreal Canadiens and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 2-2 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
And there was 1 game in the World Hockey Association: The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Chicago Cougars, 5-3 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago.
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