Orlando Cepeda

Did You Know?

• Cepeda was the second player from Puerto Rico to win a minor league triple crown, doing so in 1956.
• He began practicing Nichiren Buddhism as a member of Soka Gakkai International in 1983.
• A local band has a song that celebrates him.

Early life

Cepeda was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to Pedro Aníbal Cepeda and Carmen Pennes. The family lived in wood houses without a telephone or refrigerator. His father, a professional baseball player known as "Perucho" and "the Bull," was considered one of the best players of his generation, and Orlando was called "the Baby Bull. He first saw his father play in 1946 and became interested in baseball.

Because his father was black and played mostly before Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947, Perucho could not play in the major leagues. Negro league players visited the Cepeda home, influencing Orlando's view of the sport; he became a fan of Minnie Miñoso. At age 10, Cepeda sold newspapers to enter a baseball tournament for paper boys. He tried out three years later but did not make the roster.

He then played basketball, tore cartilage in his knee, and underwent surgery, which kept him inactive for nearly a year. A doctor advised him to avoid basketball, so he returned to baseball, finding his strength had improved. An amateur player recruited him, and his team won Puerto Rico's amateur championship. Pedro Zorilla, owner of the Santurce Crabbers, saw Cepeda play and brought him on as a batboy in 1953. There was not enough income for Orlando to attend college.

Professional career

In 1955, Zorilla arranged for Cepeda to try out for the New York Giants. He was assigned to Sandersville, a Class D team, then to the Salem Rebels, where he struggled with English and faced racial segregation. After his father died, Cepeda wanted to quit but was convinced to play for the Kokomo Giants in the Mississippi–Ohio Valley League. Playing third base and batting cleanup, he finished with a .393 average, 21 home runs, and 91 RBIs.

Jim Tobin bought his contract and sold it back to the Giants. Cepeda was sent to the St. Cloud Rox in Class C, where he moved to first base and won the Northern League Triple Crown with a .355 average, 112 RBIs, and 26 home runs. He was promoted to Class B despite his protests. After a solid season there, he played winter ball for the Crabbers, batting .310 with 11 home runs and 40 RBIs.

He signed a Class A contract with the Springfield Giants on condition he could play in spring training with the Minneapolis Millers. He started slowly but improved and stayed with the Millers for the 1957 season. He then returned to Puerto Rico for winter ball, where Giants manager Bill Rigney, owner Horace Stoneham, and Tom Sheehan scouted him. He was invited to spring training with other prospects.

Post-retirement life

After retiring, Cepeda traveled to Colombia to direct a baseball clinic. There, he met drug dealers who convinced him to put bags containing five pounds of cannabis in boxes of clothing. He had used cannabis since 1965. He returned to Puerto Rico and waited ten days before contacting the airport.

When he arrived to collect the boxes, he was told they could not be released because shipping costs were unpaid; the shipment actually weighed 170 pounds. Police officers instructed an employee to give Cepeda the boxes, and he was arrested for drug possession. While on trial, he was arrested again after a man alleged Cepeda had pointed a gun at him. A third case was brought by Pino seeking increased alimony.

In 1978, he was found guilty of drug possession and sentenced to five years; he served ten months in jail and the rest on probation. After release, a district attorney told the warden that the mafia might try to kill Cepeda if he returned to prison, so he was assigned to a halfway house in Philadelphia. He later coached a LBPPR team in Bayamón and was hired as a scout by the Chicago White Sox. In 1981, he was assigned as a roving instructor in Lynn, Massachusetts, but was released later that year. He briefly worked as the Crabbers' coach.

Legacy

By the early 1990s, as Cepeda's initial Hall of Fame eligibility neared its end, many Puerto Ricans and celebrities campaigned for his induction. In 1994, his last year of BBWAA eligibility, he came within nine votes of election. He was later elected by the Hall's Veterans Committee, joining Roberto Clemente as the only Puerto Rican in Cooperstown at the time; they have since been joined by Roberto Alomar, Iván Rodríguez, and Edgar Martínez. Cepeda belongs to 14 halls of fame, the most of any Puerto Rican athlete, including the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, Puerto Rico Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

He was recognized nationally for his humanitarian work as an ambassador for baseball and served as an honorary spokesman for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America. In 2001, he won the Ernie Banks Positive Image Lifetime Achievement Award, which cited his commitment to community service and regular visits to inner-city schools through HOPE: Helping Other People Excel. He participated in the Giants Christmas Caravan, visiting hospitals and the UC San Francisco Medical Center pediatric cancer ward, and was a speaker for the Omega Boys and Girls Club, counseling at-risk children in San Francisco.