SAN FRANCISCO — Orlando Cepeda, the slugging first baseman nicknamed “Baby Bull” who became a Hall of Famer among early Puerto Ricans to star in the major leagues, has died. He is 86 years old.
The San Francisco Giants and his family announced his death last night and a moment of silence was held when his photo was displayed on the scoreboard at Oracle Park in the middle of a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“My beloved Orlando passed away peacefully at home this afternoon, listening to his favorite music and surrounded by his loved ones,” his wife, Nydia, said in a statement released through the team. “We are relieved that he is at peace.”
It was a heartbreaking month for the Giants as Cepeda’s death followed Hall of Famer Willie Mays’ passing just 10 days earlier on June 18 at the age of 93.
“Man, what another gut punch,” said Giants manager Bob Melvin, who grew up in the Bay Area cheering for the team. “Another incredible personality and just love it here. A statue up front. The numbers he puts in, there’s a lot of legends here and he’s always in the middle. To be so close to Willie, it’s amazing.
Cepeda was a regular at Giants home games in the 2017 season until he overcame some health challenges. He was hospitalized in the Bay Area in February 2018 after a heart attack.
One of the first Puerto Rican stars in the majors but limited by knee problems, he was Boston’s first designated hitter and spent time as a DH as he entered the Hall of Fame in 1999 as elected by the Veterans Committee.
“Orlando Cepeda’s unabashed love for the game of baseball sparkled during his extraordinary playing career, and later as one of the game’s eternal ambassadors,” said Hall of Fame Chairman Jane Forbes Clark. “We will miss his beautiful smile at Hall of Fame Weekend in Cooperstown, where his spirit will shine forever, and we extend our deepest sympathies to the Cepeda family.’
When the Red Sox called Cepeda in December 1972 to ask if he wanted to be the designated hitter, the unemployed player accepted immediately.
“Boston called and asked me if I was interested in DH, and I said yes,” Cepeda recalled in a 2013 interview with the Associated Press on DH’s 40th year. “DH got me to the Hall of Fame. The rules got me to the Hall of Fame.
He doesn’t know what his career means, admitting, “I don’t know anything about DH.” The experiment went well for Cepeda, who played in 142 games that season — second-to-last in his decorated 17-year major league career. The A’s had released Cepeda just a few months after acquiring him from Atlanta on June 29, 1972.
Cepeda was celebrated at Fenway Park on May 8, 2013, for a ceremony celebrating his role as a designated hitter. The Red Sox have invited him for the first home series of the season but the former Giants franchise honored the World Series champion at the same time.
“It means a lot,” said Cepeda then. “It’s really good. When you think it’s all over, it’s just the beginning.”
He said A’s owner Charlie Finley sent a telegram to call him within 24 hours or he would be released. Cepeda didn’t meet the deadline and was released in December 1972. He played just three games for Oakland after the A’s acquired him for pitcher Denny McLain. Cepeda was placed on the disabled list with a left knee injury. He has had 10 knee surgeries in total, four years apart.
Cepeda had been a first baseman and outfielder before joining baseball’s first class of designated hitters under the new American League rules.
“They’re talking about just three years,” he said. “And people still don’t like the DH idea. They say it won’t last.”
The addition of DH opens up new opportunities for players such as Cepeda and others from his era who can still produce at the plate late in their careers but aren’t playing the field with point-on defense in their prime.
Cepeda is excited to have another chance.
He hit .289 with 20 home runs and 86 RBIs in 1973, starting strongly with a .333 average and five homers in April. He drove in 23 runs in August on his way to DH of the Year honors. On August 8 in Kansas City, Cepeda hit four doubles.
“It was one of my best years,” Cepeda said, “because I played with one leg and I hit .289. And I hit four doubles in one game. Both of my knees hurt, and I was named the hitter of the year.
Baltimore’s Tommy Davis (.306, seven homers, 89 RBI) and Minnesota’s Tony Oliva (.291, 16 HR, 92 RBI) for top DH honors.
“It was not easy for me to get the award,” Cepeda said. “He’s had a good couple of years.”
Cepeda also knew little English when he arrived in the minor league in the mid-1950s, putting him in the first wave of Spanish-speaking players thrown into a different culture to play professional baseball, build a new life and send money back home.
This is an opportunity to succeed in the sport you love, as long as the tough challenges on the field can be overcome.
At first, Cepeda was told by his manager to go home to Puerto Rico and learn English before returning to his career in the US.
“Coming into my first year, everything was new to me, a shock,” Cepeda recalled in a 2014 interview with the AP. “When I came to Virginia, I was there for a month and my dad passed away. My dad said, ‘I want to see my son play pro ball,’ and he died the day before I played my first game at Virginia.”
“From there I went to Puerto Rico and when I came back here, I had to go back because we didn’t have money and my mother said, ‘You have to go back and send money, we don’t have money to eat,'” he said.
Cepeda continues to be encouraged to watch many young players from Latin America come to the United States with better English skills, because it is too much for all 30 major league organizations to focus more on their training through academies in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
There are also English language classes offered to young players during spring and full spring training, plus at various minor league levels.
They also have problems.
Cepeda was arrested in May 2007 after being pulled over for speeding when officers found drugs in the car.
California Highway Patrol officers arrested Cepeda after finding a “usable” amount of a white powdery substance that may have been methamphetamine or cocaine, while marijuana and a syringe were also found.
After his playing career ended, Cepeda was convicted in 1976 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, of smuggling marijuana and sentenced to five years in prison.
That belief may be one of the reasons he was not elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Cepeda was finally selected by the Veterans Committee in 1999.
Cepeda played first base for 17 seasons in the majors, starting with the Giants. He also spent time with St. Louis, Atlanta, Oakland, Boston and Kansas City. In the spring of 1969, Cepeda was traded by the Cardinals to the Braves for Joe Torre.
A seven-time All-Star who played in three World Series, Cepeda was the 1958 NL Rookie of the Year with San Francisco and the NL MVP in 1967 with St. city. In 1961, Cepeda led the NL with 46 homers and 142 RBI. Cepeda is a career .297 hitter with 379 home runs.
It wasn’t until after his 1973 season as a DH that Cepeda was able to look back and appreciate all that he had accomplished that year – along with his huge role in history and change in the sport.
“I just do it,” he said of learning about DH. “Every day, I tell myself, I’m lucky I was born with the skills to play football.”
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