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.\n', '

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.\n', '

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.\n', '

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