Baseball legend and Puerto Rican icon Orlando Cepeda died at age 86, just 10 days after his teammate and Hall of Famer Willie Mays.
Known as ‘Baby Bull,’ Cepeda was the unanimous winner of the National League Most Valuable Player award in 1967 while leading the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series championship over the Boston Red Sox.
The announcement came from the San Francisco Giants, for whom Cepeda played the first nine seasons of his 17-year career starting in 1958. The Giants held a moment of silence before the sixth inning of Friday’s 5-3 victory. against the Los Angeles Dodgers. .
Cepeda hit 379 home runs, drove in 1,365 runs and batted .297 with an .849 OPS while playing primarily for the Giants, Cardinals and Atlanta Braves, before ending up with the Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals.
Cepeda won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1958, the Giants’ first season in San Francisco after leaving the Polo Grounds in New York City. He batted .312 with 25 home runs, 96 RBIs and 38 doubles (a National League best) in 148 games.
Orlando Cepeda (left) and Willie Mays at the Polo Grounds in New York in 1963.
Orlando Cepeda waves to the crowd during a ceremony for Willie Mays’ 80th birthday in 2011
Mays said of Cepeda’s rookie season: “He’s upsetting every pitcher in the league. He’s strong, he hits to all fields and makes all the plays. He’s the most relaxed first-year player I’ve ever seen.”
Cepeda’s death came just 10 days after Mays’ death on June 18.
Cepeda finished as runner-up for the Most Valuable Player award in 1961, when he hit 46 home runs (most in the league) and 142 RBIs (most in the major leagues). He was also an 11-time All-Star, eight of those honors coming in four consecutive seasons (1959-62) when Major League Baseball had two such games.
Giants Chairman and CEO Larry Baer said in a statement: “This is a truly sad day for the San Francisco Giants. For all of Orlando’s extraordinary accomplishments in baseball, his generosity, kindness and joy were what defined him. No one loved the game more.”
“Our 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. “We take comfort in knowing that he is at peace.”
Cepeda played only 33 games in 1965 and 19 in early 1966 due to injuries, and meanwhile, Willie McCovey established himself as the Giants’ first baseman. Cepeda asked to be traded and was traded on May 8, 1966 to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for pitcher Ray Sadecki.
The Cardinals won 101 games in 1967 and the World Series title in seven games over the Boston Red Sox. St. Louis returned to the World Series the following season, but lost in seven games to the Detroit Tigers.
Cepeda was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999.