Sport: Hot Dog and Pudge

• Share

Box scores seldom reflect the real gems of baseball, the shining acts of talent or instinct that can catch an opponent totally unaware. In a recent game with the Cincinnati Reds, for example, the Houston Astros' Cesar Cedeño was on first when a double was hit to left field. Though the ball was pegged back to the infield quickly, Cedeño unexpectedly kept going. Before the surprised Reds could respond, Cedeno rounded third at top speed and raced home to score. Last week at Yankee Stadium, in a tight situation−two outs, ninth inning, bases loaded with Bronx Bombers, a count of two balls and one strike−Batter Felipe Alou was looking for a fast ball. Instead, Boston Red Sox Catcher Carlton Fisk signaled for a curve. Pitcher John Curtis came in with a sharply breaking pitch that Alou, caught off stride, took for a strike. Then, guessing rightly that Alou was set for another curve, Fisk called for a fast ball that Alou−regarded as a foxy clutch hitter−feebly popped up to clinch a 1-0 Boston victory.

Though Cedeño, 22, is playing in his third full season and Fisk, 25, is only in his sophomore year in the majors, their daring, heady play has won them the kind of adulation usually reserved for seasoned stars. At the All-Star Game in Kansas City on July 24, Cedeño will patrol center field for the National League while Fisk will be behind the plate for the American League. The All-Star vote by fans confirms what most baseball men already concede: Cedeño, an unabashed hot-shot from the Dominican Republic, and Fisk, a self-reliant Yankee from New Hampshire, are two of the finest young pros in the game.

Cedeño (pronounced Suh-dane-yo) is "like a wild man," says Cincinnati Manager Sparky Anderson. "Everything is attack with him−the pitchers, the bases, the fly balls. He's the sort other professionals would pay to watch." Astro Manager Leo Durocher agrees: "There are only five things you can do in baseball−run, throw, catch, hit, and hit with power. Cedeño is outstanding in all five." Durocher likens his centerfielder to the young Willie Mays. Former Pittsburgh Pirate Manager Harry Walker calls him the "second Roberto Clemente." Cedeño disagrees. "I am," he says with typical bravado, "the first Cedeño."

Cave-Man Style. Astro scouts suspected as much when they first saw Cedeño play in the Dominican Republic in 1967. To avoid the prying eyes of rival scouts, the Houston recruiters hustled their 16-year-old find off to a remote field for a tryout. After he poled seven balls over the fence, the Astros signed him for a $3,000 bonus just minutes before a St. Louis Cardinal scout arrived at the Cedeño home with another offer. Cesar hit so lustily in the minor leagues that in 1970 he was called to Houston at midseason.