Born in San Fernando, California, Vico was a first baseman. Before reaching the major leagues, Vico played for the Fulton Tigers, Muskegon Reds, and Winston-Salem Twins in 1941 and 1942. His career was interrupted for three seasons (1943–1945) as he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, Vico played for the Salem Senators and Portland Beavers.\n', '

In 1948, Vico made it to the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers. In his first at bat in the major leagues on April 20, Vico hit a home run off Joe Haynes on the first pitch he faced. Vico had another impressive game on August 14, when he collected 7 RBIs, 2 doubles, a triple and a home run. (If Vico had held up on his second double, he could have hit for the cycle.) Vico was the Tigers\' starting first baseman in 1948, playing in 144 games and batting .267 with 139 hits, 23 doubles, 9 triples and 8 home runs. As a rookie, Vico was among the 1948 American League leaders with 9 triples (9th in AL), 7 times hit by a pitch (2nd in AL), 17 sacrifice hits (4th in AL), and 23 times grounded into a double play (2nd in AL).\n', '

Vico also had a good season as a fielder in 1948. His range factor of 8.83 was 1.79 points higher than the average first baseman that year. He had 1,165 putouts, 85 assists, and 112 double plays.\n', '

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