Dayán Viciedo

Dayan Viciedo
Chicago White Sox — No. 24
Right fielder/First base/Third base
Born: March 10, 1989 (1989-03-10) (age 22) Remedios, Villa Clara Province, Cuba
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 20, 2010 for the Chicago White Sox
Career statistics (through 2011)
Batting average	.282
Home runs	6
Runs batted in	19
Teams
Chicago White Sox (2010–present)

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Viciedo and the second or maternal family name is Pérez.

Dayán Viciedo Pérez (born March 10, 1989 in Remedios, Villa Clara Province, Cuba)^[1] is a Cuban baseball player in the Chicago White Sox organization. He is listed at 5 ft 11 in, 240 lbs.

Early life

Viciedo entered Cuba's National Series at age 15 for Villa Clara, 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 20, 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.^[6] He was approved as a declared Free Agent by Major League Baseball on November 10, 2008.

Professional career

Viciedo agreed to a four-year, $10 million contract with the Chicago White Sox on December 12, 2008. The contract includes a $4 million signing bonus, and pays $1 million in 2009, $1.25 million in 2010 and 2011, as well as $2.5 million in 2012. Signing with the White Sox reunited him with fellow Cuban countrymen, Alexei Ramírez ^[7]

Minor Leagues

2009

Viciedo began the 2009 season with the Double-A Birmingham Barons of the Southern League. During the season he hit .280 with 12 home runs and 78 RBIs.

2010

Viciedo was batting .290, with 14 home runs and 34 RBI in 238 at bats with Triple-A Charlotte Knights before getting called up by the Chicago White Sox on June 17, 2010. He finished the season batting .274, 20 home runs and 47 RBI in 343 at bats.

2011

Viciedo moved to right field at the beginning of the season in an attempt to get him up to the Major League level quicker. He was batting .296, with 20 home runs and 78 RBI in 452 at bats with Triple-A Charlotte Knights before being called up by the White Sox on August 26, 2011 because of an injury to Carlos Quentin.

Chicago White Sox

Viciedo joined the White Sox for their 2009 Spring Training, but did not make the starting roster and was sent to Double-A Birmingham Barons to open the 2009 season. He was invited to Spring Training again in 2010. On June 17, 2010, it was announced that Viciedo would be called up to the Chicago White Sox. In his first Major league Game against the Washington Nationals he recorded his first hit en route to a White Sox 6-3 win. Viciedo recorded his first Major League home run on July 5, 2010 against Scott Kazmir of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and two days later, on July 7, recorded his first career double against Joe Saunders of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Viciedo has been referred to as "The Tank" by White Sox announcer Ken Harrelson, due to his size, power, and strength.

References

1. ^ "Dayán Viciedo Pérez" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2006-04-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20060427064020/http://www.radiococo.cu/Fichas/villa+clara/vclviciedo.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-10. 
2. ^ García, Anne-Marie (2005-02-16). "Dayan Viciedo, the rough diamond of Cuban baseball". Granma. http://www.granma.cu/INGLES/2005/febrero/mier16/8beisbol.html. Retrieved 2006-10-10. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ ^{a b} Singer, Tom (2006-02-12). "Youth no obstacle for Cuba's Viciedo". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060211&content_id=1310178&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved 2006-10-10. 
4. ^ "2005-06 Regular season batting statistics". http://www.inder.co.cu/indernet/competencias/sinfo/SNacional45/beio1al1.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-10. 
5. ^ Wendel, Tim (2006-03-05). "Cuba's ninth inning gamble". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/suncommentary/la-op-wendel5mar05,1,2973720.story?coll=la-headlines-suncomment. Retrieved 2006-10-10. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/story/562497.html
7. ^ Merkin, Scott (2008-12-12). "Viciedo's four-year pact finalized". MLB.com. http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081212&content_id=3715285&vkey=news_cws&fext=.jsp&c_id=cws. Retrieved 2008-12-12. 

See also

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Persondata
Name	Viciedo, Dayan
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 10, 1989
Place of birth	Remedios, Villa Clara Province, Cuba
Date of death
Place of death