Orlando Cepeda, the San Francisco Giants first baseman nicknamed “Booze Baby,” died Friday at his home. He was 86.
“MLB mourns the passing of Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda at age 86,” Major League Baseball tweeted. Known as “Cha-Cha” and “Baby Boy,” Cepeda issued 379 walks, 297 hits and was part of 11 All-Star teams in 17 seasons. He was the unanimous National League Rookie of the Year with the Giants in 1958. He was also the unanimous National League MVP award winner in 1967, when he helped the Cardinals win the World Series championship.
Cepeda was the son of Puerto Rican baseball player Perucho Cepeda, who was not allowed to play in the major leagues because he was black. Cepeda’s own career began after Pedro Zorilla convinced his family to send him to the United States to try out for what was then the New York Giants. He passed a team tryout, but was sent to the Salem Rebels.
After his father’s death, he nearly gave up the sport, but was convinced to play for the Kokomo Giants, where he was assigned to third base. Cepeda’s playing rights were eventually transferred to the New York Giants and he first began playing for the team.
The San Francisco Giants signed Cepeda in 1958, and he finished his first season as the National League Rookie of the Year. After a few more seasons with the Giants, Cepeda was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1966. Although he was named National League MVP after his first season, his performance deteriorated over the next two seasons and he was traded to the Atlanta Braves in 1969.
Cepeda retired from baseball in 1974. The following year, he was arrested at the San Juan International Airport for drug possession after trying to steal two boxes of marijuana brought from Colombia. Cepeda served 9 months of a 5-year prison sentence, but was never able to completely expunge his criminal conviction.
“Everything has changed. They still tell you what you’ve done. They will never forget it,” she stated. Los Angeles Times in 1985. “Every time my name was mentioned, it came up. I have to live with it, but I didn’t hurt anyone. Everything I did, I did to myself. This should be a lesson to me and my family. Everything got out of proportion, but that’s life. “
In 1983, Cepeda converted to Buddhism. “I was introduced to Buddhism after I retired from baseball. Until then, all I knew was how to play baseball. When I left the game in 1974, I felt empty. I didn’t know what to do,” he told Tribuna Jahan. “My friend Rudy introduced me to Buddhist practice, and I told him I didn’t need anything. I was raised Catholic. He told me to try it and see if it works.”
The conversion was a life-changing decision, he added. “Almost immediately I felt like my life was changing. Buddhism gave me everything.”
Cepeda was inducted in 1999 into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
The greatest baseball player was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, on September 17, 1937. Despite his father’s success in baseball, the family grew up “very poor,” said Bernardo Ruíz. “My father [legendary player Pedro Cepeda]… he was a great baseball player. At that time, a black player had no chance of playing in the major leagues,” Cepeda explained. “So my dad went to Cuba, he went to the Dominican Republic, Venezuela… I think he went to Mexico for a year.”
Cepeda’s survivors include his wife, Nydia, and his five children, Hector, Orlando Jr., Carl, Malcolm and Ali.
2024-06-30 06:46:54
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