As announced, Hall of Fame first baseman Orlando Cepeda passed away yesterday. Cepeda was 86 years old.

Cepeda joined the San Francisco Giants in 1958 and made an immediate impact, batting .312/.342/.512 with 25 home runs, winning the Rookie of the Year Award and finishing ninth in MVP voting. Cepeda was so good that when future Hall of Famer Willie McCovey joined the Giants the next year—he won the Rookie of the Year Award and finished 22nd in MVP voting—McCovey was limited to a part-time role, making just 219 batting appearances. Cepeda's presence meant McCovey didn't become a full-time starter until 1963, when the Giants tried to squeeze both into the lineup by putting McCovey in left field.

Due to knee injuries, Cepeda played in only 33 games in 1965 and only batted 40 times. At the start of the 1966 season, the Giants traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ray Sadecki. Cepeda was unanimously voted the Cardinals' MVP in 1967.

The Cardinals traded Cepeda to the Atlanta Braves for Joe Torre in spring training in 1969. After three and a half seasons with the Braves, Cepeda was traded to the Oakland A's for Denny McLain. He spent the last years of his career with the Red Sox and the Royals.

Cepeda finished his career with 2,351 hits, 379 home runs, and a slash line of .297/.350/.499, for an OPS+ of 133. He spent 15 years on the Writer's Hall of Fame ballot, receiving 12.5% ​​of the vote in 1980 and peaking at 73.5% in 1994, his final year on the ballot. He was elected by the Veteran's Committee in 1999.