Andújar Cedeño

When the Houston Astros signed Andújar Cedeño out of the Dominican Republic in 1986, their manager, Hal Lanier, said what many were thinking: “He’s got a lot to live up to.”1 After all, Dominicans Joaquín Andújar and César Cedeño (no relation) had each been big-league standouts. Although Andújar Cedeño never became an All-Star like his similarly named countrymen, the shortstop spent all or part of seven seasons (1990-1996) in the majors. His winter-ball success for his hometown Azucareros del Este earned Cedeño the nickname “El Hombre” (The Man). More than two decades after his tragic death at age 31, that team still recalled him as its “eterno capitán” (eternal captain).2

Andújar Cedeño Donastorg was born on August 21, 1969, in La Romana, a port city about 75 miles east of Santo Domingo.3 His father, Feliciano Cedeño, operated a colmado – a small, neighborhood grocery store – with the assistance of his wife, Ana Donastorg. They had five children, three boys and two girls. Aleida and Evelin were Andújar’s sisters. His older brother, Domingo, reached the majors, too. “We played all the time when we were little,” Domingo said.4 Younger brother Eduardo also played professional baseball, peaking in Class A.

“When I was a kid, I played with no uniform, no ball, no bats, no nothing,” Andújar recalled.5 But La Romana’s idyllic location on the coast of the Caribbean Sea, with Catalina Island less than two miles offshore, prompted Gulf and Western Industries, an American conglomerate, to invest heavily in the province during his formative years. The Casa de Campo complex – across the Dulce River from the Bancola and La Aviación neighborhoods where Cedeño was raised – became an exclusive resort for wealthy tourists. Improved sporting opportunities for children were another result.6

On October 1, 1986, Cedeño signed with Houston through Julio Linares a rookie-league manager in the Astros’ system who also scouted for the organization.7 The following year, Cedeño reported to Houston’s minor-league camp in Kissimmee, Florida. He was not assigned to any team, however. Just 17, he spent the summer in extended spring training.8

In 1988, Cedeño played for Linares’ club in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League. His .285 batting average in 46 games was the team’s best, but he committed 25 errors at shortstop. That winter, he made his Dominican League debut. As the youngest position player on an Azucareros squad featuring major-leaguers like Domingo Ramos and Manny Lee, Cedeño appeared in 10 contests and batted .261 (6-for-23) with one homer.

The following summer, Cedeño addressed the Houston Chronicle’s questions about his connections to two of the Astros’ former Dominican All-Stars. “I’ve known [Joaquín Andújar] because he is always taking time to work with the young kids back home,” he said through an interpreter. “And I met [César Cedeño] this spring… We’re not from the same family, but, of course, I followed his career at home for many years.”9

Cedeño was the Class A South Atlantic League’s All-Star shortstop in 1989.10 He was charged with 62 errors in 125 appearances for the Asheville (North Carolina) Tourists, but batted .300 and led the circuit with 146 hits. His 93 RBIs paced his teammates, and he had 14 homers and 23 steals. Next, he reported to the Astros’ seven-week Fall Instructional League camp in Osceola, Florida. “He’s the best shortstop ever to come through this organization,” raved Jimmy Johnson, Houston’s coordinator of instruction. “He’s destined to be an impact player. He hits the ball to all fields with power. Without question, he was the most exciting player in camp.”11 After returning home, Cedeño appeared in 20 games for the Azucareros, hitting .255.

The Astros promoted Cedeño to the Double-A Southern League in 1990, but he batted just .240 for the Columbus (Georgia) Mudcats. “Andújar’s a free swinger,” noted Columbus manager Rick Sweet. “He’s not the type who will wait out a pitcher, wait for that seventh or eighth pitch. Pitchers in this league will find a weakness like that in a player and keep working on it.”12

Although Cedeño led the circuit with 11 triples, and his 19 homers ranked fourth, he also struck out 135 times and committed 51 errors. “Andujar is a crude, out-of-control player at this point,” observed Fred Nelson, Houston’s minor-league director. “[Columbus second baseman] Andy [Mota] has a wonderful calming effect on him. He’s almost an on-the-spot coach.”13 Mota, the son of Dodgers coach Manny Mota – a Dominican – was bilingual, having been drafted out of Cal State Fullerton University.

Astros GM Bill Wood opined that Cedeño could become the best shortstop in franchise history, but acknowledged there was still plenty of room for improvement. “He’s aggressive, a wild swinger. When he hits the ball, he puts a charge in it. He needs to make more contact without losing his ability to drive the ball. In the field, he gets careless. He has things he has to learn defensively. He has great tools and gets to a lot of balls, then after he gets there, he throws it away.”14

About a week after Wood issued his remarks, Houston called Cedeño up to the majors. On September 2, 1990, at the Astrodome, Cedeño debuted as a sixth-inning pinch-hitter for pitcher Danny Darwin with Houston trailing by five runs. He struck out against Pirates southpaw John Smiley. Cedeño appeared in seven games (two starts) and went 0-for-8.

That winter, Cedeño became a regular for the first time with the Azucareros. Manning third base because Dodgers prospect José Offerman was at shortstop, he won a Gold Glove and helped the Azucareros tie for first place during the regular campaign. Although his statistics were not overwhelming – a .273 batting average with one homer in 47 games – Cedeño was voted the Dominican League’s MVP.

After the Santo Domingo-based Tigres del Licey prevailed in the playoffs, Cedeño accompanied them to Miami to represent the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean Series. He made the tournament’s All-Star team, and Sports Illustrated noted “Cedeño’s .333 batting average helped Licey win the series.”15

Heading into 1991, Baseball America rated Cedeño the majors’ top position player prospect, trailing only Athletics pitcher Todd Van Poppel overall. Cedeño advanced to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League and produced a .303/.341/.452 slash line in 93 games with the Tucson Toros. The Astros brought him up again, and he collected his first big-league hit – a single off Pittsburgh’s Randy Tomlin – in his first game back, on July 27. Houston commenced a season-high nine-game winning streak the following day. When the first-place Dodgers came to town on August 2, Cedeño had a homer and four RBIs in the series opener. Two nights later, as L.A.’s Mike Sharperson unsuccessfully attempted to tag up and move to third base on a flyout, the Dodgers’ Stan Javier noticed second base unattended and tried to advance from first. But Cedeño beat him to the bag, received third baseman Ken Caminiti’s throw, and applied the tag to complete a triple play. The Astros went on to another one-run victory to complete the sweep. “Cedeño deserves a lot of credit for being alert and getting back to second base,” said Astros manager Art Howe. “The play really gave us a big lift.”16

Cedeño started 66 of Houston’s last 67 games and earned NL Player of the Week honors for September 2-8. Overall, he went deep nine times and hit .243 with 36 RBIs. He committed 18 errors, however, six of which came during the season-ending three-game series in Atlanta.

Following a so-so campaign in winter ball (.242 in 40 games with the Azucareros), Cedeño batted just .145 (8-for-55) in 1992 spring training. “We’ll start judging him now,” said Howe when the regular season began. “We’ll overlook spring training and hope that he gets it going.”17 But Cedeño batted just .146 (6-for-41) in April.

“Whenever you’re not playing good baseball, there’s always going to be critics,” Cedeño said. “In the Dominican, too, if you don’t play well, the critics come out from everywhere.”18 For the second straight year, his locker was next to that of Rafael Ramírez, a veteran Dominican shortstop who helped him adjust to the majors.19 When Cedeño was still a minor-league teen, some Astros employees opined that his confidence would grow as he improved his ability to speak English.20 “Right now, I feel like I can almost understand everything, but I don’t feel good trying to talk English,” he said in early ’92. “It hasn’t been a problem on the field, but there are a lot of things I’m still learning.”21

Cedeño made only four errors in his first 35 games, but his .186 batting average convinced the Astros to send him back to the minors at the end of May. “I chased a lot of bad pitches. I lost my confidence in spring training and I never got it back,” he said. In 74 appearances for Tucson, he drove in 56 runs and batted .293. “The difference between Triple-A and the major leagues is that here we see a lot of mistakes… Pitchers in the major leagues don’t make many mistakes.”22

On August 25, the Astros recalled Cedeño. Against the Cardinals that night at the Astrodome, he hit an opposite-field RBI triple off southpaw Rhéal Cormier in his first at-bat. Next time up, Cedeño popped out, but he connected for a tie-breaking homer against reliever Mike Pérez in the seventh. After St. Louis pulled even, Cedeño walked in the ninth, and doubled against lefty Bob McClure in the 11th. The Astros were two outs from a 5-3 defeat in the bottom of the 13th when he singled off future Hall of Famer Lee Smith to complete the cycle – the first Houston player to achieve the feat in 15 years.

Cedeño’s hot hitting did not last, however, and he finished with a .173 batting average and just two homers in 71 games. “I haven’t given up hope,” he said. “I’m going to go home, relax for a while, and start playing winter ball about December 1.”23 In November, Astros assistant GM Bob Watson visited the Dominican Republic to address Houston’s pursuit of free agent shortstop Ozzie Smith with Cedeño.24 (Smith ultimately re-signed with the Cardinals) “The purpose was part psychological and part physical,” the Houston Chronicle noted the following spring. “Watson wanted Cedeño to change his swing and his approach at the plate in addition to concentrating on gaining the consistency a major-league shortstop needs defensively.”25

That winter the Azucareros advanced to the Dominican League finals. Cedeño was the club’s leading run producer during the playoffs (four homers and 15 RBIs in 25 postseason games), but they were defeated by the Águilas Cibaeñas. Cedeño then accompanied the Águilas to the Caribbean Series in Mazatlán, Mexico, where he made the tournament’s All-Star team.26

During spring training 1993, Astros hitting instructor Rudy Jaramillo remarked, “For the first time I have [Cedeño’s] trust. Because he had success hitting his way in the past, A.C. has resisted change. But several days ago he came and told me he was willing to make adjustments… A.C. has tremendous bat speed, but he constantly thinks too much in the batter’s box. It’s good that he thinks in situations, but he should be seeing the ball and reacting to it.”27

Cedeño batted .319 before the All-Star break and enjoyed his best year in the majors, batting .283 in 149 games overall, with 11 homers and 56 RBIs. He struck out less and walked more, resulting in an above-average .346 on-base percentage. On September 8, he made one of Houston’s two “excellent plays” in the seventh inning of Astros righty Darryl Kile’s no-hitter.28 After third baseman Ken Caminiti speared a line drive for the second out, the Mets’ Joe Orsulak hit a grounder between third base and short. “Andújar Cedeño ranged to his right, backhanded the ball and threw off-balance to [first baseman Jeff] Bagwell, who scooped the one-hopper with a forehand stab,” described New York’s Daily News.29

On November 19, 1993, Cedeño made history with the Azucareros. During the 11th inning of a contest in San Pedro de Macorís, he played third base, while his brothers Domingo and Eduardo manned shortstop and second, respectively. The Alou brothers – Felipe, Mateo, and Jesús – had previously formed the Leones del Escogido’s outfield in 1960, but the Cedeños became the Dominican League’s first trio of siblings to play together in the infield.30

A few weeks later in Texas, Andújar Cedeño’s first wife, Tomasa Ávila, gave birth to Andújar Jr. The new father finished with his best winter-ball statistics: .327 with a team-leading 26 RBIs in 39 games, plus a .306 average in 18 round-robin playoff contests. His 1994 Topps baseball card noted, “Andújar has contributed so much equipment to kids in his native country that there is now a youth league in the Dominican Republic named after him – the League of Cedeño.”31

The Astros fired Howe and hired Terry Collins to manage in 1994. Collins added Julio Linares – the scout who had signed Cedeño – to his coaching staff, explaining, “Julio knows the language. He was an infielder. We need coaches who can help guys develop. We need to get the max out of Cedeño.”32

On April 27, Cedeño crushed a homer off Cubs right-hander Willie Banks into the gray loge seats in the sixth level of the Astrodome in left-center field. “The ball traveled an estimated 443 feet, but that guess was short in the opinion of many observers,” the Houston Chronicle reported.33 According to USA Today, “Larry Dierker, Astros broadcaster and former Astros pitcher, has seen all but two seasons in the Astrodome, and he says no ball has been hit farther to that part of the ballpark.”34

By the end of May, the Astros were tied with the Reds atop the NL Central. The two clubs remained within three and a half games of each other over the next 10 weeks. When the major-league players’ strike halted the season prematurely on August 11, Houston was a half-game behind, in second place. In 98 appearances, Cedeño batted .263 with nine homers and a career-high 26 doubles. His 23 errors were the most in the majors.

The Azucareros won their first Dominican League championship that winter. Cedeño was the team captain, his brother Domingo was also a regular, and Howe was the manager.35 Andújar Cedeño’s .340 (17-for-50) average in the round-robin playoffs helped the club reach the finals, where they defeated the Águilas despite his 2-for-23 showing. The Azucareros represented the Dominican Republic at the Caribbean Series in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and finished second to the host’s “Dream Team.”36

When the strike was finally settled in April 1995, Cedeño was with a new team. He had been traded to the San Diego Padres in a 12-player deal on December 28, 1994.37 In hindsight, of the six players Houston acquired, only right fielder Derek Bell and shortstop Ricky Gutiérrez made a significant impact, while the Padres picked up a future NL MVP in Caminiti, plus budding All-Star center fielder Steve Finley.

During the abbreviated spring training, Cedeño worked closely with Padres coach Rob Picciolo, a former big-league shortstop. “Cedeño is experimenting with a wider stance in the infield, and allowing his hands to flow while fielding a grounder, rather than having them stiff,” noted the San Diego Union-Tribune.38

Cedeño raised his fielding percentage at shortstop to a personal-best .965 in 1995. On May 14 at Wrigley Field, he produced his only two-homer game in the majors, taking the Cubs’ Jim Bullinger deep twice in San Diego’s 9-7 victory. Salary arbitration cases were resolved during the season because of the late end of the work stoppage. Shortly before his hearing was scheduled in early June, Cedeño agreed to a one-year, $1.15 million contract with the Padres, more than tripling the $340,000 he had earned the previous year.39

After the All-Star break, however, Cedeño batted just .173, lowering his overall average to .210 in 120 games, with just six homers and 31 RBIs. “Many front-office decision-makers believe Andújar Cedeño should not return,” reported beat writer Tom Krasovic that fall.40 Yet, “[Padres] CEO Larry Lucchino says he has faith in Cedeño and G.M. Kevin Towers says Cedeño has All-Star potential.”41 Cedeño accepted a substantial pay cut and signed a one-year, $500,000 deal to return to San Diego.42

That winter, Cedeño slugged four homers in 75 at-bats for the Azucareros, while Domingo hit .419 to win the Dominican League batting title. Former AL MVP George Bell was a volunteer coach for the Azucareros. “George Bell is the best hitting instructor I’ve ever seen,” raved Andújar. “He’s done a lot to help both me and my brother.”43 Cedeño also completed a vigorous offseason workout program, running five days a week under the supervision of track and field coach Elpidio Encarnación.44 (Encarnación, a track star in his younger days, was also the father of future big-leaguer Edwin Encarnación.)45

During spring training 1996, Cedeño’s agent, Adam Katz, remarked, “I sense the problems are behind him. But as Andújar’s head goes, so goes Andújar.”46

The Padres built a six-game NL West lead through June 5, but Cedeño’s sub-.200 batting average after a decent April caused him to be left out of the starting lineup more frequently. San Diego was deep into a slide of 16 losses in 18 games when Cedeño, catcher Brad Ausmus, and minor-leaguer Russ Spear were traded to the Detroit Tigers on June 18 for shortstop Chris Gomez and catcher John Flaherty.

On July 6 at Tiger Stadium, Cedeño and his brother Domingo – a Blue Jays reserve – saw action as big-league opponents for the first time. “It was one of the big reasons I was happy coming here,” Andújar said. “I want him to do his best, but just not against me.” Domingo told reporters, “I call him and we talk, but he never spends and calls me.”47

Cedeño committed 10 errors for the Tigers in July, and beat writer Reid Creager opined, “Cedeño also looks lost at the plate.”48 In August, Cedeño homered six times in just 69 at-bats, but his average for Detroit was just .196 in 52 games. By September, the Tigers had moved All-Star third baseman Travis Fryman to shortstop and acquired former overall number-one draft pick Phil Nevin from Houston to play third base. Detroit did not plan to offer Cedeño arbitration that offseason, so they sent him to the Astros in a conditional deal on September 11. “He needs to play in order to get better, and he wasn’t going to do that here,” explained Tigers manager Buddy Bell. “I wish him all the best there.”49

The Astros were just a game and a half behind the NL Central-leading Cardinals when Cedeño returned to his original team as the starting shortstop in Colorado on September 13. He went 0-for-2 with a walk in a Houston defeat and played the final inning of another loss the following day at third base. In the series finale on September 15, Cedeño entered in the bottom of the eighth and handled his only chance at shortstop. With Houston trailing, 11-4, he walked to lead off the top of the ninth, but was quickly erased when teammate Dave Hajek grounded into a double play. Cedeño injured his right ankle sliding into second base and had to be helped off the field.50 An X-ray confirmed that his ankle was fractured, andone newspaper later reported, “It took doctors several hours to reset the bones.”51

Cedeño never made it back to the majors. In 616 big-league games, he batted .236 with 47 homers.

In the winter of 1995-96, Cedeño logged only 33 at-bats between the regular season and the playoffs for the Azucareros. The Cubs signed him to a minor-league contract, but he was released after failing the team’s physical upon reporting to spring training. “Unfortunately, Andújar has an ankle our doctors feel is going to be a problem in the short term,” explained Cubs GM Ed Lynch. “We felt more comfortable just parting ways at this time.”52 Cedeño’s agent said the Cubs’ doctors recommended reconstructive surgery for his client.53

Cedeño was warned that his career was probably over, but he said, “I wanted to play baseball again, no matter what they told me.”54 He played a full Dominican League campaign with the Azucareros in 1997-98 and hit .252 in 46 games. In 1998, Cedeño surfaced in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League. He was one of nine former big-leaguers who saw action with that circuit’s Tainan-based Uni-President Lions. In 29 games, he batted .298.

The Azucareros did not compete in the Dominican League for two seasons following extensive damage to their stadium when Hurricane Georges ravaged the island in September 1998. Cedeño signed a minor-league contract with the Yankees and began the 1999 season with their Columbus (Ohio) Clippers affiliate in the Triple-A International League. Playing mostly third base, Cedeño hit .293 with a .470 slugging percentage in 62 games, but the World Series champion Yankees did not need him at the major-league level. When the organization decided to promote young Dominican infielder Alfonso Soriano from Double-A to Columbus in August, Cedeño was released to make room.55

Cedeño returned to Dominican League action with the Estrellas Orientales and helped them advance to the 1999-2000 finals. He spent most of the postseason backing up future Hall of Famer Adrián Beltré, however, after batting just .211 in 41 regular season games.

In 2000, Cedeño signed with the Langosteros de Cancún of the Mexican League and appeared in 119 of their 121 games, hitting .318 with 25 homers and 88 RBIs. After the season concluded in late August, he joined the Nashua (New Hampshire) Pride of the independent Atlantic League.56 Cedeño was one of 16 former big-leaguers to appear for the Butch Hobson-managed club that year, but an injury prevented him from participating in their championship series triumph.57

For the first time in three years, Estadio Francisco A. Micheli in La Romana was fit to host Dominican League contests, so Cedeño returned to captain the Azucareros. He was off to a slow start (2-for-22) through six games when the unthinkable happened. Driving home on the Santo Domingo-San Pedro highway after a Friday night game in the capital, Cedeño crashed his Mercedes-Benz into an oncoming truck near the Juan Dolio municipality.58 Just 31, he died instantly in the early hours of October 28, 2000.

It was not the first tragedy involving a ballplayer on the roadways of the Dominican Republic. Infielders William Suero (1995) and José Oliva (1997) had each perished in automobile accidents, as did former outfielder Rufino Linares (1998). Since Cedeno’s death, outfielder Oscar Taveras (2014), former infielder José Uribe (2016), and – in separate incidents on January 22, 2017 – pitcher Yordano Ventura and former infielder Andy Marte all lost their lives in similar fashion. “The roads are dark in places where they’re not supposed to be dark. You’ll see vehicles with no brake lights. It’s like an adventure, a challenge,” retired outfielder Moisés Alou told ESPN.com after the latter two incidents. “Unfortunately, we live in a country where there aren’t too many rules.”59

Cedeño was survived by his second wife, Letitia (Peña), their children Ashley and Michael, and Andújar Jr. from his first marriage. He is buried in Cementerio Municipal La Romana.

In 2012, the Estadio Andújar Cedeño opened in La Romana’s Villa Hermosa neighborhood. Outside the 2,000-seat facility for amateur baseball and softball stands a statue of the namesake crouching in his batting stance.60 The Azucareros del Este changed their name to the Toros del Este in 2005. As of 2023, Cedeño’s retired uniform number 10 was still displayed on the center field fence at Estadio Francisco A. Micheli.61

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Andújar Cedeño’s sister Aleida, brother Domingo, and son Andújar Jr. for their helpful input.

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and David Bilmes and fact-checked by Tony Oliver.

Sources

In addition to sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted www.baseball-reference.com, www.retrosheet.org, and https://sabr.org/bioproject.

Andújar Cedeño’s Dominican League statistics are from https://stats.winterballdata.com/ (subscription service, last accessed February 8, 2023).

Notes

1 Marty Noble, “Fans Tighten Raines on Padres,” Newsday (Long Island, New York), March 1, 1987: 14.

2 “Andújar Cedeño, el Eterno Capitán,” Prensa Toros del Este, October 28, 2017, https://torosdeleste.com/noticias/andujar-cedeno-capitan (last accessed February 11, 2023).

3 The birthdate listed on Cedeño’s tomb is March 12, 1969. Dominican baseball historian Cuqui Córdova reported “June 21, 1969, some say it was August 21.” Cuqui Córdova, “Andújar Cedeño,” Listín Diario (Dominican Republic), February 10, 2017, https://listindiario.com/el-deporte/2017/02/10/453678/andujar-cedeno (last accessed February 8, 2023).

4 Jim Parker, “Cedenos Conquer Problems,” Windsor (Ontario, Canada) Star, July 20, 1996: B6.

5 Andújar Cedeno, 1995 Topps baseball card.

6 Rob Ruck, The Tropic of Baseball, (New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1991: 170-180.

7 Cuqui Córdova, “Beisbol de Ayer: Andujar Cedeno,” Listin Diario, February 17, 2017, https://listindiario.com/el-deporte/2017/02/17/454493/andujar-cedeno (last accessed February 8, 2023).

8 Jayson Stark, “The Things That Make Wrigley So Special,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 9, 1987: C3.

9 Harry Shattuck, “This Name Conjures Memories,” Houston Chronicle, July 20, 1989: 1.

10 Andújar Cedeño, 1990 Star Columbus Mudcats baseball card.

11 Frank Carroll, “Johnson: Instructional League a Success,” Orlando (Florida) Sentinel, November 3, 1989: 9.

12 Michael Murphy, “Astros Hope Up and Down Cedeno Doesn’t Bobble His Potential,” Houston Chronicle, July 9, 1990: 5.

13 Steve Henson, “Growing Up True Blue,” Los Angeles Times, August 12, 1990: SDC14.

14 Mel Antonen and Rod Beaton, “Toronto Tandem Doubles the Outs,” USA Today (McLean, Virginia), August 24, 1990: 6C.

15 “Scorecard,” Sports Illustrated, February 18, 1991, https://vault.si.com/vault/1991/02/18/scorecard (last accessed February 9, 2023).

16 Associated Press, “Astros’ Triple Play Helps Sweep L.A,” Kerrville (Texas) Times, August 5, 1991: 7.

17 Neil Hohlfeld, “Fly on the Wall,” The Sporting News, April 20, 1992: 22.

18 John P. Lopez, “Cedeno Puts it Together for One Game,” Houston Chronicle, May 2, 1992: 5.

19 Neil Hohlfeld, “See-Saw Cedeno,” Houston Chronicle, March 3, 1991: 1.

20 Murphy, “Astros Hope Up and Down Cedeno Doesn’t Bobble His Potential.”

21 Neil Hohlfeld, “Fly on the Wall,” The Sporting News, May 11, 1992: 24.

22 Mike Eisenbath, “The New Wave of Shortstops is Wiped Out,” The Sporting News, August 3, 1992: 34.

23 Neil Hohlfeld, “Fly on the Wall,” The Sporting News, October 5, 1992: 18.

24 Ed Fowler, “As Cedeno Goes, So Go the Astros,” Houston Chronicle, February 27, 1993: 1.

25 Hohlfeld, “See-Saw Cedeno.”

26 “Serie del Caribe 1993 Mazatlan Mexico,” https://www.1800beisbol.com/baseball/deportes/serie_del_caribe/serie_del_caribe_1993_mazatlan_mexico/ (last accessed February 10, 2023).

27 Frank Carroll, “Cedeño: No Doubt of the Task Ahead,” Orlando (Florida) Sentinel, March 18, 1993: D9.

28 Associated Press, “No-Hitter Elevates Astros,” Kerrville Times, September 9, 1993: 7.

29 Steve Serby, “No! Mets No-Hit,” Daily News (New York, New York), September 9, 1993: 71.

30 Hector Garcia Sr, “La Proeza Histórica de Hermanos Cedeño Juegan al Unísono Infield,” Momento Deportivo, November 19, 2020, https://momentodeportivord.com/la-proeza-historica-de-hermanos-cedeno-juegan-al-unisono-infield/ (last accessed February 10, 2023).

31 Andújar Cedeño, 1994 Topps baseball card.

32 Tony DeMarco, “The Men Behind the Managers,” The Sporting News, January 24, 1994: 30.

33 Neil Hohlfeld, “Cedeno’s Home Run Power Leaves No Gray Area,” Houston Chronicle, April 28, 1994: 5.

34 Rod Beaton, “Astros 8, Cubs 5,” USA Today, April 28, 1994: 6C.

35 Córdova, “Beisbol de Ayer: Andujar Cedeno.”

36 The San Juan Senadores roster for the 1995 Caribbean Series featured future Hall of Famers Roberto Alomar and Edgar Martínez, and past or future big-league All-Stars like Bernie Williams, Carlos Delgado, Juan González, Carlos Baerga, and Rubén Sierra. David Venn, “PR Celebrates Dream Team 25th Anniversary,” MLB.com, February 1, 2020, https://www.mlb.com/news/puerto-rico-1995-dream-team-remembered (last accessed February 11, 2023).

37 In addition to Cedeño, Caminiti, and Finley, San Diego received first baseman Roberto Petagine, pitcher Brian Williams, and minor-leaguer Sean Fresh. Houston acquired pitchers Doug Brocail and Pedro (A.) Martínez, outfielder Phil Plantier, and infielder Craig Shipley, plus Bell and Gutiérrez.

38 Tom Maloney, “With Lopez Gone, Cedeno Looms Larger,” San Diego Union-Tribune, April 22, 1995: D1.

39 “Around the League,” Austin (Texas) American Statesman, June 9, 1995: C5.

40 Tom Krasovic, “Forecasting ’96,” The Sporting News, October 16, 1995: 24.

41 Tom Krasovic, “For Starters,” The Sporting News, January 1, 1996: 45.

42 Associated Press, “Alomar Goes to Orioles for 3 Years, $18 Million,” San Francisco Examiner, December 21, 1995: E2.

43 Marty York, “Bell Toils Quietly to Help Blue Jays,” Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada), January 18, 1996: D10.

44 Tom Krasovic, “Offseason Work Helps Cedeño Get Leg Up at SS,” San Diego Union-Tribune, April 20, 1996: D5.

45 Freddy Tapia, “Elpidio Encarnación Tenía Nombre Propio,” Listín Diario, December 20, 2019, https://listindiario.com/el-deporte/2019/12/20/596653/elpidio-encarnacion-tenia-nombre-propio (last accessed February 11, 2023).

46 Tom Krasovic, “Unfortunately, Cedeno’s Glove Behind His Bat,” San Diego Times-Union, March 10, 1996: C1.

47 Parker, “Cedenos Conquer Problems.”

48 Reid Creager, “Another Chapter,” The Sporting News, August 5, 1996: 20.

49 Jeannie Roberts, “Tigers Unload Cedeno on Astros,” Grand Rapids (Michigan) Press, September 12, 1996: F3.

50 Alan Truex, “Astros Summary,” Houston Chronicle, September 16, 1996: 4.

51 “Andujar Won’t Allow Injury to Break His Spirit,” Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, July 4, 1999: 8E.

52 Paul Sullivan, “With Broken Hand Healed, Sosa Looks Forward to Swinging for New Contract,” Chicago Tribune, February 21, 1997: 4.

53 “Cubs: Cedeno Flunks Physical,” Philadelphia Daily News, February 21, 1997: 137.

54 “Andujar Won’t Allow Injury to Break His Spirit.”

55 Paul Dottino, “Cubans Flexing Muscles Since Defection,” Record (Hackensack, New Jersey), August 22, 1999: S13.

56 “Infield Boost for Pride,” Courier-News (Bridgewater, New Jersey), August 20, 2000: 26.

57 “Played Seven Seasons in Baseball’s Majors,” Globe and Mail, November 2, 2000: R10.

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