The articles found here will cover Astros at their best and their worst. It would be surprising to find a former player with a darker past than Cesar Cedeno.
 
When he first appeared, he was touted as the second coming of Willie Mays. He could throw, hit, field, steal bases, and kill the ladies with his smile. He would steal second base and be standing there when the throw finally arrived. His range in the outfield was so large that the right and left fielders could hug the foul lines and know that Cedeno would get anything hit into the outfield. Nobody was going to stop this beast.
 
His production looked like it would never stop until his knees gave out and his speed was more than cut in half. He could no longer chase down anything in the outfield. He became famous for taking his glove off at the end of games and extending his middle finger toward the fans sitting near the wall.
 
Did something happen to Cedeno to see him go from superstar to washed up? The answer lies in the Dominican Republic, where he spent the winter of 1973. Cesar Cedeno had girl problems. While his wife was preparing the house for Christmas, Cesar was visiting his 19-year-old mistress Alta. They spent the day feeding an ugly drug habit when Alta started playing with a gun that belongs to Cedeno. After this, things get a little unclear. Cedeno's version of the story is that Alta refused to give him back the gun, so he tried to grab it from her. She struggled to keep ahold of the gun until the gun went off. Alta died instantly as the bullet tore through her head.
 
After initially running from what had happened, Cedeno thought better of the situation and turned himself in. For killing his girlfriend, he paid a fine of 100 pesos and spent 20 days in jail. It may not have been a major punishment, but it affected his game. He would return to Houston and deal with heckles of "Murderer!"
 
Initially, it comes off as something that may have just been a bad decision that turned tragic. Unfortunately, he was not done hurting women or elevating the level of his overreactions. Eleven years after killing Alta, he would again get into an argument with a girlfriend. This time, he directed his anger at her possessions when he slammed her car repeatedly into a tree. When the police arrived, he fought them off as best he could until they managed to get him subdued.
 
One year later, he went out drinking and got into a disagreement with a man at a bar. In his drunken rage, he did not make the rational decision to walk away. Instead, he smashed his beer glass into the man's face and found himself facing prosecution again. Another two years into the future and he could be found beating up another girlfriend. This time, after beating her, he stole her infant child and drove away. Thankfully, he offered no resistance when the police tried to apprehend him.
 
Finally, in 1992, police in Florida were called to Cedeno's residence and found him beating his pregnant girlfriend. They attempted to intervene but he fought back. He ended up stealing one of the officer's nightsticks and beating the officer with the weapon.
 
He has since seemingly settled down and, as of 2014, works for the Greeneville Astros. It is a wonder that he is still allowed to walk the streets.