MLB Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda passed away yesterday at the age of 86. The Puerto Rican born legend had his share of health problems in recent years including a cardiac episode in February 2018.
Cepeda's passing comes only 10 days after the death of his longtime San Francisco Giants teammate Willie Mays. The pair were teammates from 1958 (the team's first year in San Francisco) to the early part of the 1966 season.
Known as "The Baby Bull", Cepeda made an immediate impact when he won NL Rookie of the Year honors in 1958 leading the NL in doubles with 38. The following year, Willie McCovey would join the Giants and also win NL Rookie of the Year honors. Mays, McCovey and Cepeda were a power trio which made the Giants a force with which to be reckoned in the NL during the early to mid 1960's.
In 1961, Cepeda led the NL with 46 HR and 142 RBIs finishing runner up in NL MVP honors to fellow Hall of Famer Frank Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds. The following season the Giants would win the NL pennant but would fall just short against the New York Yankees in the World Series in a seven-game series. However, Cepeda struggled during the 1962 Fall Classic hitting .158 (3-for-19). Nevertheless, Cepeda would be named to 8 NL All-Star Teams between 1959 and 1964 (there were two MLB All-Star Games from 1959 through 1962).
However, knee injuries Cepeda had been nursing would catch up with him as he played only 33 games during the 1965 season. In May 1966, the Giants dealt Cepeda to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Ray Sadecki.
Although Cepeda is best remembered for his tenure with the Giants, his greatest triumph would come in a Cardinals uniform. After earning NL Comeback Player of the Year in 1966, Cepeda would earn the NL MVP in 1967 leading the NL in RBI with 111 as the Redbirds would win the World Series against the Boston Red Sox. The only black mark was that Cepeda again struggled in the Fall Classic hitting only .103 (3-for-29).
The Cardinals would win another NL pennant in 1968 but fell to the Detroit Tigers in seven games. Cepeda's productivity also declined as his batting average declined from .325 to .248. Following the 1968 season, the Cardinals would trade Cepeda to the Atlanta Braves for Joe Torre. This was an even deal as Torre would win the NL MVP with the Redbirds in 1971. Cepeda enjoyed solid seasons in 1969 and 1970 as part of a power trio with Hank Aaron and Rico Carty. In 1969, the Braves would win the inaugural NL West pennant but would be swept by the eventual World Series champion New York Mets in the first NLCS.
After playing in only 71 games in 1971 due to recurring knee injuries, the Braves would trade Cepeda to the Oakland A's for two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Denny McClain. While the A's would win their first of three consecutive World Series in 1972, Cepeda only played 3 games in an Oakland uniform.
Cepeda's career appeared to be over, but then along came the DH. The DH was born for a player like Cepeda who could no longer play the field but could still hit. Cepeda would become the first DH for the Boston Red Sox in 1973 making his AL debut. In this role, Cepeda hit .289 with 20 HR and 86 RBIs. However, with the arrival of Darrell Johnson as the team's new manager in 1974, the Red Sox would release Cepeda with the younger Cecil Cooper taking over DH duties.
Cepeda would finish his MLB career with the Kansas City Royals in 1974. In 17 MLB seasons, Cepeda collected 2,351 hits for a lifetime batting average of .297 with 379 HR and 1365 RBIs. Cepeda collected 100 or more RBIs five times and batted over .300 9 times.
However, Cepeda would not gain entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame until he voted in by the Veterans Committee in 1999 making him only the second Puerto Rican enshrined after Roberto Clemente. A drug bust in 1975 would mar Cepeda's reputation and hurt him with BBWAA voters. Cepeda narrowly missed induction his final year on the ballot in 1994 earning 73.5% of the vote, 1.5% shy of the 75% threshold.
Cepeda would rejoin the Giants organization in 1987 as a scout and would later open a BBQ restaurant after the Giants moved out of Candlestick Park and into what is not known as Oracle Park.
This has been a very sad month for San Francisco Giants with the passing of both Willie Mays and now Orlando Cepeda. R.I.P.
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