Yoenis Céspedes

Céspedes in 2015, photo by Debby Wong/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Yoenis Céspedes Milanés

Place of Birth: Campechuela, Granma Province, Cuba

Date of Birth: October 18, 1985

Ethnicity: African-Cuban

Yoenis Céspedes is a Cuban-born professional baseball player. An outfielder, he played for the Oakland Athletics, the Boston Red Sox, the Detroit Tigers, and the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He had initially played in the Cuban National Series. He is nicknamed “La Potencia”/The Power.

His first name is also spelled Yoennis. He is the son of Cresencio Céspedes, a Cuban League catcher, and Estela Milanés (Estela Milanés Salazar), a softball pitcher, who was part of the 2000 Summer Olympics for Cuba. His half-brother is Cuban professional baseball player Yoelqui Céspedes. In the summer of 2011, he traveled from Cuba to the Dominican Republic by speedboat, eventually moving to the U.S.

He has a son, who has remained in Cuba.