Background

Orlando Cepeda was born on September 17, 1937, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to Pedro Anibal Cepeda and his wife Carmen Pennes. His father, known by the names of "Perucho" and the "Bull," was one of the best professional baseball players in Puerto Rico during the 1940s and 1950s.

Education

During his early years, like many Puerto Ricans in this time period, Cepeda lived with few physical possessions and had little formal education. Yet his life was filled with hope and inspiration, much of it stemming from his father, Perucho Cepeda. Perucho was a baseball player who excelled in the Caribbean leagues, playing on Dominican club teams alongside Negro League greats Satchel Paige, James "Cool Papa" Bell, and Josh Gibson. He was nicknamed the "Bull" and because he was a power hitter was known as "the Babe Ruth of Puerto Rico." But the Caribbean leagues were difficult for even the best players and as Perucho began to get older, he found himself moving around from team to team, often living in destitution away from his family, and what money he did not send back to his wife and children, he gambled away.

Perucho passed on his love of baseball to Cepeda at an early age and whenever he was not off chasing a job on a Caribbean league team, he was teaching Cepeda how to hit, field, and even pitch. Cepeda saw the prestige and honor that his father received from playing baseball. He worked hard to make that dream become a reality, even going so far as to move to the United States, knowing little English and few people, to join a minor league team in Virginia. Shortly after Cepeda had moved to Virginia, Perucho came down with malaria and quickly deteriorated. He flew back to Puerto Rico when he heard the news, but found his father in a coma by the time he arrived. Perucho died on April 16, 1955, sinking Cepeda into a deep depression, one so great it almost prevented him from returning to the minor leagues. Cepeda's mother, however, would not let that happen.

Career

From Virginia Cepeda moved on to play for a minor league team in Minneapolis. It was here that Giants scout Tom Sheehan first saw Cepeda play first base. Cepeda was soon courted by the Giants, and by 1958 he had signed a contract to play in San Francisco.

Cepeda's rookie season was spectacular, starting with his first Major League game with the Giants against the Dodgers. At only his second at-bat, he hit a home run that scored the winning run for the Giants. He would go on to belt out 24 more homers that season, bring in 96 runs, and bat an impressive .312. These numbers along with his amazing fielding skills garnered Cepeda the Rookie of the Year award and thrust him into the limelight for Giants fans as well as baseball fans across the country.

In 1961 Cepeda had one of the most outstanding years of his career, leading the entire Major League with 46 home runs and 142 RBIs. This performance allowed Cepeda to outshine many players that season, including teammate and veteran Willie Mays, who many still felt was the best player on the Giants during that time period.

Unfortunately for Cepeda, the Giants went through a rotating succession of managers, not all of whom were as excited about Cepeda's skills as Bill Rigney. First, there was Alvin Dark, who served as Giant's general manager in the early 1960s, and he made statements often of how he felt that black and Latino players were inferior to white players. Following him was Herman Franks, a man many people feel crippled Cepeda's career in San Francisco by moving him from first base to the outfield where Cepeda began to have knee problems from an injury that he sustained by diving for a ball. This knee injury would bench Cepeda for all but 33 games in the 1965 season and was ultimately the reason he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1966 even though he was still hitting close to, if not over, a .300 batting average per season.

For the next three years, Cepeda succeeded greatly with the St. Louis Cardinals, helping the team to win the World Series in 1967. Although he hit well during the regular season, boasting a .325 batting average and hitting 111 RBIs, he went three for 29 at the plate during the seven games of the World Series. But as many teammates and fans knew, Cepeda was the heart and soul of the St. Louis team. Because of his amazing play during the regular season as well as his spirit that held his "El Birdos" - Cepeda's nickname for the Cardinals - he was easily elected as the National League MVP, the first unanimous selection for the award ever made. He helped them to return in 1968, but after gaining three games on the Detroit Tigers, they lost the final three games of the series.

In 1969 the Cardinals owner Gussie Busch decided to restructure the team, immediately sending Cepeda to the Atlanta Braves. Many Cardinals fans were distraught at the thought of "Cha-Cha" playing for another team, and many blamed this move for the reason that the club was not able to even compete for a pennant for close to 13 years. In Atlanta Cepeda performed well at the plate, but his knees continued to give him problems. He was also beginning to become one of the older players on the field and training camps and constant traveling were beginning to take a toll on him. Between 1972 and 1974 he was traded three times, first from Atlanta to Oakland, then to Boston, and finally to Kansas City where he finished out 1974 before declaring that he was going to retire.

In 1987 the Giants organization hired Cepeda to work for their community relations staff. He worked in the community encouraging students to stick to school and sports and not take the paths of drug use and gang membership. The next year, he worked as a scout for the Giants and began to develop young players. By the 1990s, he was not only scouting for the Giants, but he represented the organization around the United States and internationally as well. He was especially effective in Puerto Rico where he rebuilt his image as a public speaker and a goodwill ambassador for the Giants.

Achievements

• During his major-league career, Cepeda had a batting average of .297, 2,351 hits, 457 doubles, 27 triples, and 379 home runs. He scored 1,131 runs and had 1,365 RBIs. Cepeda participated in seven All-Star Games, won the Comeback Player of the Year in 1966, and the Designated Hitter of the Year Award in 1973. He was unanimously selected as the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1967.
  
  In 1999, Cepeda was inducted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee. In 2001, he won the Ernie Banks Positive Image Lifetime Achievement Award. In September 2008, the Giants unveiled a statue of Cepeda.

Works

More photos

• book

  • My Ups and Downs in Baseball

    (Cepeda talks frankly of his problems, physical and otherw...)

    1968
  • High and Inside: Orlando Cepeda's Story

    (The former first baseman with the Giants, Cardinals, and ...)

    1983
  • Baby Bull: From Hardball to Hard Time and Back

    (Orlando Cepeda enjoyed a stellar baseball career in the l...)

    1998

Religion

It was in 1983, that Orlando Cepeda began practicing Nichiren Buddhism as a member of the Buddhist association Soka Gakkai International.

Views

Cepeda was an honorary spokesman for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. Each year, he visits hospitals, schools, and youth groups including the UC San Francisco Medical Center pediatric cancer ward as part of the Giants Christmas Caravan. Orlando is also a participant in Athletes Against AIDS and a public speaker for the Omega Boys and Girls Club, counseling at-risk children.

Quotations: "When people are wrong, you've got to let them know it."

"I forgave Alvin Dark... but also I was very happy to see him go."

"He was our Jackie Robinson... He wanted to make sure you had a place to live, that you were getting food to eat. Some guys, they only learned enough English to order one thing. He wanted to make sure you had money. If you didn't have money for something, he would give it to you."

Personality

Cepeda is an outgoing, wide-smiling, and enthusiastic person.

Physical Characteristics: In 2018, Cepeda fell outside his Fairfield gym and suffered a stroke. For three days after his fall, he laid in a medically-induced coma.

Interests

• Sport & Clubs

  Baseball

• Athletes

  Minnie Miñoso

Connections

On December 3, 1960, Cepeda married Annie Pino and later fathered Orlando Jr., but after years of his infidelity, and at least one child (Carl Cepeda) with another woman, they divorced in 1973. He married Nydia Fernandez in 1975 but his behavior did not improve. The couple had two children, Malcom and Ali. Later, Nydia filed a divorce suit. Later, Cepeda was introduced to Mirian Ortiz, whom he eventually married.

Father:

Pedro Anibal Cepeda

(January 31, 1905 - April 16, 1955)

Pedro Cepeda was a Puerto Rican baseball player who was considered one of the best players of his generation.

Mother:

Carmen Pennes

child:

Orlando Cepeda Jr.

child:

Carl Cepeda

child:

Malcolm Cepeda

child:

Ali Manuel Cepeda

late spouse:

Mirian Ortiz

ex-spouse:

Annie Pino

ex-spouse:

Nydia Fernandez

colleague:

Roberto Clemente

colleague:

Dick Groat

(born November 4, 1930)

Dick Groat is a former two-sport athlete (professional baseball and basketball) best known as a shortstop in Major League Baseball (MLB).

colleague:

Tommy Davis

(born March 21, 1939)

Tommy Davis is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a left fielder and third baseman from 1959 to 1976 for ten different teams, most notably for the Los Angeles Dodgers where he was a two-time National League batting champion.

References

• Orlando Cepeda: The Baby Bull Short monograph on the Baseball Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda's life and career.
  1987
• The Orlando Cepeda Story Offering captivating commentary and staggering statistics, this biography tells the story of the second player in major league history to be unanimously elected both "Rookie of the Year" and "Most Valuable Player," in spite of the racism and alienation that he experienced.
  2001
• Orlando Cepeda: Baseball Legend and Legacy The book, written by Gary Hall, follows the career and statistics of Baseball Legend Orlando Cepeda. Also, the readers of the book will be provided with Dusty Baker's favorite and game stories as told by Orlando Cepeda.
  2012