Dayán Viciedo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dayán Viciedo Pérez (born March 10, 1989 in Remedios, Villa Clara Province, Cuba)[1] is a Cuban baseball prodigy. Viciedo, who entered Cuba's National Series at age 15 for Villa Clara, is often compared to Cuban legend Omar Linares, his idol.[2]
Viciedo struggled in his first season in the national series, hitting only .243 through the season's first 50 games.[3] However, in his second season, at age sixteen, he hit .337 with 14 home runs.[4] Viciedo was selected to Cuba's provisional 60-player roster for the 2006 World Baseball Classic[3], but was not included in the final team.[5]
On May 2, 2008 Viciedo defected from Cuba with his family on a boat bound for Mexico. Once in Mexico he crossed the border to the United States and went to Miami where he was reunited with some of his family. He is expected to sign with a Major League Baseball team shortly as an international free agent and receive a signing bonus of more than a million dollars. [6]
[edit] References
- ^ Dayán Viciedo Pérez (Spanish). Retrieved on 2006-10-10.
- ^ García, Anne-Marie. "Dayan Viciedo, the rough diamond of Cuban baseball", Granma, February 16, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-10-10.
- ^ a b Singer, Tom (February 12, 2006). Youth no obstacle for Cuba's Viciedo. MLB.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-10.
- ^ 2005-06 Regular season batting statistics. Retrieved on 2006-10-10.
- ^ Wendel, Tim. "Cuba's ninth inning gamble", Los Angeles Times, March 5, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-10.
- ^ http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/story/562497.html
