Hot Dog and Pudge

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 Cedeno was on first when a double was hit to left field. Though the ball was pegged back to the infield quickly, Cedeno 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 Cedeno, 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, Cedeno 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: Cedeno, 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.

Cedeno (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. Cedeno 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." Cedeno disagrees. "I am," he says with typical bravado, "the first Cedeno."

Cave-Man Style. Astro scouts suspected as much when they first saw Cedeno 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 Cedeno home with another offer. Cesar hit so lustily in the minor leagues that in 1970 he was called to Houston at midseason.

Cedeno, who says that he learned English from watching The Flintstones on TV, was at first like a cave man with a club, overswinging to the point that his batting average tapered off to .264 in 1971. Last year he learned to control his quick wrists and rhythmic swing so well that he led the Astros in hitting with a .320 average. Though he has missed nearly 20 games this season because of injuries, his 13 home runs, 29 stolen bases and .313 average as of last week have caused Houston fans to rename the Astrodome "Cesar's Palace."

Cedeno pulls off so many flashy plays in the field that some rivals accuse him of being a "hot dog" -base-ballese for showoff. Once, in a tight contest with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cedeno ended the game with a spectacular diving catch and then lay motionless on the field. As teammates rushed to his assistance, he was overcome with convulsions -of laughter. "I just thought I'd lie here for a while," he said, "so I'll get a big hand when I go in." He also travels with tape recordings of himself singing songs in Spanish because "I love to listen to myself."

Quiet Contrast. Fisk, on the other hand, speaks out only "when I think there's a need." Beginning as a third-string catcher with the Red Sox last season, he felt a need to play regularly. He got his chance in the first month of the season, and, says Boston Manager Eddie Kasko, "once he got into the lineup, I couldn't get him out." Neither could rival teams, and Fisk became the only rookie to play for either team in last year's All-Star Game. Then, in a rare display of truculence for a rookie, Fisk criticized Boston Stars Carl Yastrzemski and Reggie Smith for their lack of desire to win and for "not lending inspiration to the team." Though Smith was more miffed than Yastrzemski, neither could fault Fisk's hustling style of play. After batting .293, slugging 22 home runs and driving in 61 runs, he became the first player in American League history to win Rookie of the Year honors by a unanimous vote of the sports writers.

Carlton, son of Cecil, brother of Calvin, Cedric and Conrad, and father of Carlyn and Carson, is known in Charlestown, N.H., as Pudge. He won a basketball scholarship to the University of New Hampshire but realized that he was too short at 6 ft. 2 in. to make it as a forward in pro basketball. Therefore he signed a Red Sox contract in 1967. After a so-so performance in the minors, he joined the Red Sox and developed a discriminating eye. "Most young players chase a lot of bad pitches," says Kasko, "but not Pudge. He knows the strike zone." This season he is hitting .290, has 17 home runs and 43 runs batted in.

As a strategist, Fisk "just seems to know how to call a game," says Kasko. "It's intuitive with him." Quick and agile for a backstop, Fisk recently pulled off an unusual and spectacular double play against the Baltimore Orioles. With a runner on third base, the Baltimore batter laid down a bunt in an attempted suicide squeeze play. Fisk pounced on the ball, leaped backward to tag the runner sliding home, and then whirled and threw the batter out at first. "I value being in control of myself and any situation I'm in," says Fisk. "I'd like to be the guy they build this team around."

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