The San Francisco Giants and the former player’s family announced his death on Friday night. A minute of silence was observed and an obituary was displayed on the Oracle Park scoreboard midway through the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Our beloved Orlando passed away peacefully tonight at home, listening to his favorite music and surrounded by his loved ones,” said his wife Nydia in a statement issued through the club. “We are comforted that he is at peace.”
Cepeda was a regular at Giants home games during the 2017 season until he dealt with some health issues. He was hospitalized in the San Francisco Bay Area in February 2018 after a heart attack.
One of the first Puerto Ricans to shine in the Major Leagues, Cepeda was the first designated hitter for the Boston Red Sox. He credits that stay with his enthronement into the Hall of Fame in 1999, elected by the Veterans Committee.
He was National League Rookie of the Year in 1958 with the Giants and Most Valuable Player of the same circuit in 1967 with the St. Louis Cardinals, in both cases unanimously. Playing first base and outfield, he was selected to seven All-Star Games.
Nicknamed “Peruchín”, “Baby Bull” or “Cha-Cha”, Cepeda signed with the New York Giants and, over a 17-season career, accumulated a .297 average with 379 home runs and 1,365 RBIs in 2,124 matches.
His major league debut was in 1958, the season in which the Giants moved from New York to San Francisco. He hit a home run in his second at-bat, on a team in which he was surrounded by three other legendary figures, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and the Dominican Juan Marichal.
In an interview with The Associated Press in 2017, Cepeda recalled his participation in the 1961 All-Star Game at Fenway Park in Boston, batting cleanup behind Mays and ahead of fellow Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente.
“A privilege like few others. “I still can’t believe it,” she said.
Mays passed away exactly 10 days ago.
“Man, another big blow,” said current Giants manager Bob Melvin, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area as a fan of the team. “Another incredible personality, very beloved here, with a statue in front of the park.”
In 1966 and after surgery on his right knee, the Giants decided to trade Cepeda to San Luis in exchange for pitcher Ray Sadecki. It was one of the most criticized transactions in San Francisco history, but the Cardinals found the first baseman with whom they won the World Series championship a year later.
Orlando Manuel Cepeda Pennes was born on September 17, 1937 in Ponce, a city in southern Puerto Rico. His father, Pedro, was considered one of the best baseball players on the island between the mid-1920s and 1940s, but he never played in the United States due to the ban on black baseball players in the Major Leagues.
Making his way through the minors in the Giants organization, with whom he signed for a $500 bonus, Cepeda Jr. had to confront racial segregation.
In his rookie campaign, Cepeda hit 25 home runs and batted .312. It was the beginning of a career in which he had nine seasons with an average above .300 and another eight with 25 or more home runs.
Nine years later, he became the first unanimous winner of the NL MVP Award since Carl Hubbell in 1936, batting .325 and leading the league with 111 RBIs. His Cardinals won the Fall Classic after beating the Boston Red Sox in seven games.
The Cardinals traded him to Atlanta in 1969 for catcher and first baseman Joe Torre and he played with the Braves until 1972, when a left knee injury suffered the previous year precipitated his departure in a trade with the Oakland Athletics.
When it was feared his career was over, Cepeda found a new opportunity when the American League introduced the designated hitter and he signed with the Red Sox.
“Boston called me and asked if I was interested in being the designated hitter. And I said yes,” Cepeda recalled. “Being a designated hitter got me into the Hall of Fame. That rule put me in the Hall of Fame.”
He played in 142 games, none on defense, and hit .289 with 20 homers and 86 RBIs in 1973, earning the first DH award. His final season was with the Kansas City Royals in 1974.
He would have to make another resurrection after the retreat.
The year after retiring, Cepeda was arrested at San Juan’s international airport, accused of trying to pick up a shipment of marijuana. He was sentenced to five years in prison, but served only 10 months.
The incident affected his Hall of Fame voting among members of the Baseball Writers’ Association. He realigned his life with the Buddhist religion and his duties as a humanitarian ambassador for the Giants.
His entry into Cooperstown finally came a quarter-century after his last at-bat, when he was elected by the Veterans Committee. He was the second Puerto Rican to enter, following in Clemente’s footsteps.
Roberto Alomar, Edgar Martínez and Iván Rodríguez joined the group of immortal Puerto Ricans in later years, and Cepeda was excited about the current stars from the island, such as Carlos Correa and Francisco Lindor.
“With baseball, I was able to get out of poverty and opened doors for more players from Puerto Rico and Latin America to come to the United States, in a very difficult time,” he told the AP in 2017. “Now, this is the best time for them.” ”.
Source: AP
