Orlando Cepeda, Giants legend and Baseball Hall of Famer, dies at 86 originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
Orlando Cepeda, a powerful first baseman who was inducted into the Hall of Fame after a groundbreaking career, passed away on Friday. Cepeda was 86 years old.
Cepeda was known as “Baby Bull”, a nickname he inherited from his father, a star in his native Puerto Rico. Cepeda’s father was nicknamed “Perucho”, which translates as “Bull”, and Orlando then became “Baby Bull”.
“Our beloved Orlando passed away peacefully at home tonight, listening to his favorite music and surrounded by his loved ones,” Cepeda’s wife, Nydia, said in a statement released by the Giants. “We were comforted that he was at peace.”
“We have lost a true gentleman and a legend,” Giants president Greg Johnson said in a statement. “Orlando was a great ambassador for the game throughout his playing career and beyond. We miss our condolences to the Cepeda family on their tremendous loss and extend our thoughts to Orlando’s teammates, his friends and all those touched by his passing.”
“This is truly a sad day for the San Francisco Giants,” Giants Chairman and CEO Larry Baer said in a statement. “For all of Orlando’s extraordinary baseball achievements, it was his generosity, kindness and joy that defined him. Nobody loved the game more. Our deepest condolences go out to his wife, Nydia, his five sons, Orlando Jr., Malcolm, Ali, Carl and Hector, his nine grandchildren, his only great-granddaughter, as well as his family and friends.”
From the moment he reached the big leagues in 1958, Cepeda proved difficult for opposing pitchers to figure out. Slapping two spots behind Willie Mays, Cepeda homered on Opening Day against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. He capped his first month in the big leagues with a four-hit game, increasing his average to .339.
Cepeda was unanimously named Rookie of the Year after batting .312 with 25 homers, 96 RBI and a league-leading 38 doubles. His 13 home runs through the end of May were the most ever by a rookie, a mark that stood until Albert Pujols hit 16 in 2001.
Cepeda was so dominant as a rookie that he finished ninth in MVP voting. The following year, he made his first All-Star team. Early in his career, the Giants sometimes had trouble figuring out how to play Cepeda and Willie McCovey at the same time, but that didn’t affect his numbers.
Cepeda’s best statistical season was his fourth, when he led the league with 46 homers and 142 RBI while posting a .970 OPS. He finished second in MVP voting, which would be his record as a Giant. A year later, Cepeda suffered a knee injury during off-season training, and by the end of the decade he was wearing Cardinals red after a deal the Giants would come to regret.
Cepeda was limited to 33 games in 1965, and the following season he was traded to St. Louis for left-hander Ray Sadecki. The Giants had McCovey playing at an MVP level at that point, and they put together a few good seasons with Sadecki before trading him to the New York Mets. But Cepeda eventually overcame his knee injury and returned to his power-hitting style.
Cepeda was the National League MVP in his first full season in St. Louis, batting .325 with 25 home runs and 111 RBI. As with the Rookie of the Year award a decade earlier, he won unanimously. But soon he was on the move again.
Cepeda was traded to the Atlanta Braves and finished his career with stints with the A’s, Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals. He played more than 2,100 games in the big leagues, batting .297 with 379 home runs. In 1999, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, one of 14 halls he is a member of around the world.
The Giants honored Cepeda by retiring his number 30. In 2008, he became the fifth player in franchise history to get a statue outside the stadium.
