Corridor of Fame slugger Orlando Cepeda has died at age 86, Main League Baseball introduced on Friday:
MLB mourns the passing of Corridor of Famer Orlando Cepeda on the age of 86.
Referred to as “Cha-Cha” and “The Child Bull,” Cepeda slugged 379 dwelling runs, batted .297, and made 11 All-Star groups over 17 seasons.
He was unanimously chosen because the NL Rookie of the 12 months in 1958 with the Giants. He was additionally a unanimous choice for the the NL MVP Award in 1967 when he helped lead the Cardinals to the World Collection championship.
In keeping with Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 in Sacramento, Cepeda’s spouse Nydia launched the next assertion:
“Our beloved Orlando handed away peacefully at dwelling this night, listening to his favourite music and surrounded by his family members. We take consolation that he’s at peace.”
Cepeda, a local of Puerto Rico, spent components of 17 seasons within the majors with the New York/San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Oakland A’s, Boston Pink Sox and Kansas Metropolis Royals. Over that adorned profession, he amassed 2,351 hits, 379 dwelling runs, 417 doubles, 142 stolen bases, 1,365 RBI and 50.1 WAR. An 11-time All-Star and former MVP, Cepeda was elected to the Baseball Corridor of Fame in 1999.
Most of his profession worth got here throughout his 9 seasons with the Giants, who first signed Cepeda in late 1953 with a $500 bonus. The Giants introduced Cepeda’s passing throughout their recreation towards the Dodgers on Friday and honored him with a second of silence. The membership additionally put out a video tribute:
An integral a part of the nice Giants groups of that period, Cepeda solid a particular affinity with San Francisco, whereas the nice Willie Mays was in some ways related to the franchise’s New York days. Of this dynamic, Cepeda stated:
“Proper from the start, I fell in love with the town. There was the whole lot that I favored. We performed extra day video games then, so I often had at the least two nights every week free. On Thursdays, I’d at all times go to the Copacabana to listen to the Latin music. On Sundays, after video games, I would go to the Jazz Workshop for the jam periods. On the Blackhawk, I would hear Miles Davis, John Coltrane. … I roomed then with Felipe Alou and Rubén Gómez, however I used to be the one one who favored to exit at evening. Felipe was very spiritual and quiet, and Ruben simply favored to play golf, so he wasn’t an evening individual. However I used to be single, and I simply liked that city.”
After being handled lower than pretty by supervisor Alvin Darkish and following the emergence of Willie McCovey, Cepeda in Could of 1966 was traded to the Cardinals in alternate for left-hander Ray Sadecki. At 28, Cepeda started the second act of his profession. Cepeda loved a productive the rest of 1966, after which in ’67 he loved maybe the best season of his profession. En path to successful the Nationwide League MVP award in his first full season with St. Louis, Cepeda put up an OPS+ of 164 with 25 dwelling runs and an NL-leading 111 RBI.
Extra upheavals got here within the following years, however Cepeda remained one of many recreation’s most efficient hitters regardless of frequent modifications of surroundings. With the Pink Sox in 1973, Cepeda loved considered one of his final nice runs, as he hit 20 dwelling runs and have become the inaugural winner of the Designated Hitter of the 12 months award (now often called the Edgar Martinez award).
His enjoying profession would finish with the Royals in 1974, and 25 years after his last at-bat Cepeda could be enshrined in Cooperstown.
