Hall of Fame Orlando Cepeda has passed away at the age of 86, the Giants announced. Cepeda played nine of his 17 MLB campaigns in San Francisco and won the 1967 National League MVP award as a member of the Cardinals.
A native of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Cepeda earned a minor league contract with the Giants in 1955. He hit 22 home runs at the age of 17 in his first league season, hinting at the power he would eventually show. large groups. Cepeda quickly moved up the ladder, reaching the top ranks in mid-April 1958. His arrival coincided with the franchise's move to San Francisco.
The first broadcaster wasted no time establishing himself as one of the faces of the organization. He recorded a .312/.342/.512 clip with 25 homers and a National League-high 38 doubles as a 20-year-old. Cepeda was a unanimous choice as the Senior Circuit's Rookie of the Year and finished ninth in MVP voting. Although he did not earn an All-Star selection in his first season, Cepeda would earn trips to the Midsummer Classic in the following six seasons.
The 6'2″ slugger hit 35 doubles and hit 20 homers in his second and third year. He took his excellent form to the next level in his fourth season. Cepeda hit a career-high 46 long balls at the top of the National League. He drove in an incredible 142 runs while hitting .311/.362/.609 in 152 contests. Cepeda led the majors in RBI and finished second Frank Robinson in the MVP voting.
Although he didn't match those numbers in 1962, Cepeda hit 35 more homers and drove in 114 runs. He finished 15th in the MVP voting and helped the Giants capture the pennant. He didn't have a great World Series as the Yankees took down the Giants in a seven-game set, but he got another crack at the Fall Classic later in the decade.
Those who didn't make it to San Francisco. Cepeda remained a productive player over the next few seasons, hitting 30 homers while hitting over .300 over the next two years. He lost much of the '65 campaign to injury, however, putting a sad end to a good run with the organization. The Giants traded Cepeda to the Cardinals for a lefty Ray Sadecki in May 1966. While Sadecki was a solid starting pitcher for the next few seasons, that pitcher came out in favor of the Cards.
Cepeda hit .303/.362/.469 in his first year with the Cardinals. He paced the NL with 111 RBI the following season, posting a .325/.399/.524 line over 644 plate appearances. Cepeda helped the Cardinals to 101 wins and a trip to the World Series. A teammate passed Tim McCarver to win the MVP. While Cepeda only had three hits in the Series, the Cards defeated the Red Sox in seven games for the eighth title in franchise history.
The Cardinals won their second straight pennant the following season, though they fell to the Tigers in the '68 World Series. St. Louis traded Cepeda to the Braves the following Spring Training in an individual trade Joe Torre. The star pitcher and future Hall of Famer would win the '71 MVP at St. Louis, so the Cardinals got a future MVP on both ends of the Cepeda trade.
Cepeda has been a key contributor for Atlanta over three and a half seasons himself. He remained an above average hitter, posting a .281/.343/.486 line in 401 games as a Brave. Atlanta traded him to the A's in 1972 Denny McLain, an agreement that did not work for either party. Cepeda signed with the Red Sox as a full-time designated hitter in 1973 and hit .289/.350/.444 to earn a handful of MVP votes. He retired after a stint with the Royals the following year.
Over a career spanning 17 seasons, Cepeda hit .297/.350/.499 in over 2100 games. He finished his playing days with 379 home runs, 2351 hits and 1365 runs batted in. He is 74th on the all-time homers leaderboard and is tied with . Garrett Anderson 87th in RBI. Cepeda spent 15 years on the Hall of Fame ballot, falling just shy of being inducted with 73.5% of the vote share in his final year (1994). Five years later, he was inducted into the Veterans Committee.
While Cepeda had three successful franchise runs, he will always be best remembered for his time with the Giants. He hit .308/.352/.535 in over 4500 plate appearances in a San Francisco uniform. The franchise retired his #30 and unveiled a statue in his honor outside Oracle Park back in 2008. His tragic passing comes just 10 days after the passing of his longtime teammate and Giants/MLB icon. Willie Mays. MLBTR joins others across the sport in sending condolences to Cepeda's family, loved ones, former teammates and countless fans whose lives were touched by his incredible career.
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