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Orlando Cepeda was the first Puerto Rican player to start an MLB All-Star Game. (/Keynote USA/Getty Images)
Orlando Cepeda, the great pitcher for the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, announced Friday that he will turn 86.
Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 through the veterans committee, Cepeda was one of the most feared power hitters of his generation and one of the first great Puerto Rican baseball players. His loss comes just 10 days after the death of Willie Mays, with whom he played for the Giants for nine seasons.
The Giants announced his death during a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with a moment of silence before the sixth inning.
Dave Flemming and Mike Krukow announce the passing of another legendary Giant, Orlando Cepeda.
“It just pains me to have to deliver more really sad news. What a difficult time this is for our Giants.”
“It hurts to lose him. He was such a gentle soul. He was such a good man.” pic.twitter.com/7CQpCJEcI0
– Horrible announcement (@awfulannunciando) June 29, 2024
Cepeda retired in 1974 with no shortage of accomplishments. He was an 11-time All-Star, National League MVP, World Series champion, Rookie of the Year and one of the Giants’ great players. However, his post-retirement life was marred when he was arrested on charges of transporting 170 pounds of marijuana from Colombia to Puerto Rico.
Cepeda, who had to face numerous legal problems, spent ten months in prison. He spent the next few years rehabilitating his image while returning to baseball as a scout, converting to Buddhism and working for the Giants as a community ambassador.
After missing out on Hall of Fame induction by nine votes in his final year of BBWAA eligibility in 1994, the veterans committee stepped in five years later to make him only the second Puerto Rican to be inducted, joining Roberto Clemente.
Orlando Cepeda was a star with the Giants and a champion with the Cardinals
Cepeda came to baseball from humble beginnings, growing up poor in Puerto Rico with a father who was a good baseball player, but unable to attempt a career in the MLB due to the color line.
In 1955 he traveled to the United States to try out for the Giants, who were then playing in New York. He did so well that he ended up on the team’s Class D roster, but the start of his professional career was interrupted by the death of his father from malaria.
Cepeda spent his signing bonus on the funeral.
After three years in the minors, Cepeda made his MLB debut in 1958, the Giants’ first season in San Francisco. He quickly found stardom as the league’s top rookie and became a fixture in the Giants’ lineup, often batting fifth behind Mays and Willie McCovey.
That run with the Giants ended abruptly in 1966, when San Francisco traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals during a series against the Cardinals. That trade paid off big for St. Louis, which won 101 games and the 1967 World Series. Even with Stan Musial and Bob Gibson on board, it was Cepeda who won the unanimous MVP award after hitting .325/.399/.524 with a league-best 25 home runs and 25 RBIs.
Cepeda took a major step back the following season, but the Cardinals returned to the World Series in the “Year of the Pitcher,” losing to the Detroit Tigers in seven games. He was abruptly traded the following season to the Atlanta Braves, where he played four seasons before finishing his career with one-year stints with the Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals.
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