César Gerónimo
| César Gerónimo | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Center fielder | |||
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Born: March 11, 1948 El Seibo, Dominican Republic |
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| MLB debut | |||
| April 16, 1969, for the Houston Astros | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| August 28, 1983, for the Kansas City Royals | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .258 | ||
| Hits | 977 | ||
| Runs batted in | 392 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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César Francisco Gerónimo Zorrilla (born March 11, 1948), known as César Gerónimo, is a former outfielder in Major League Baseball, who was a member of the famed Big Red Machine of the Cincinnati Reds during the 1970s. He batted and threw left-handed.
Gerónimo was born in El Seibo, Dominican Republic. His father was a driver for a car service, shuttling passengers on the three-hour drive from El Seibo to the capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo. At age 14, César's parents sent him to school at a seminary with hopes that he would become a priest. However, his athletic prowess continued to develop, especially in basketball. He didn't start playing baseball until he was 17. Two years later in 1967, after watching him play on his father's softball team and seeing his prowess both pitching and hitting on the baseball diamond, he was signed to a free agent contract by the New York Yankees.
The Yankees tried unsuccessfully to make Gerónimo a pitcher during his first professional season (1967). In spring training of 1968 he informed the Yankees that he wanted to end the pitching experiment, and later that year he was drafted out of the Yankees' minor league system in the Rule 5 Draft by the Houston Astros.
Gerónimo made his major league debut with the Astros at age 21 on April 16, 1969. He notched his first career hit five days later in the ninth inning when, pinch-hitting for Jack Billingham, Gerónimo doubled off the Reds' Wayne Granger.
After the 1971 season, he went to the Cincinnati Reds in a blockbuster, eight-player deal along with, among others, Joe Morgan and Billingham. A winner of four consecutive Gold Glove Awards from 1974 to 1977, Gerónimo was an outstanding all-around defensive center fielder who combined speed and great range with a powerful arm. He was the starting centerfielder of Reds teams that won five divisional championships, three National League pennants and the 1975-76 World Series Champion. In the 1975 World Series, he hit .280 with two home runs, but is best known for the iconic image of catching Carl Yastrzemski's fly ball for the final out of the World Series.
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