Orlando Cepedaa Hall of Fame slugger and San Francisco Giants front-office executive who helped lead a generation of young Latinos to the major leagues has died in California at age 86. The cause of death was not disclosed.

The Giants announced the news on June 28, the same day the 11-time All-Star died, three decades after his professional baseball career ended. His family released a statement through the team.

“Our beloved Orlando passed away peacefully at home this evening while listening to his favorite music and surrounded by his loved ones,” said his second wife Nydia. “It is a comfort to us that he is resting in peace.”

Cepeda, known as “Baby Bull,” spent 16 years in the MLB after moving to the contiguous United States from Puerto Rico, where he was born in 1937 to a standout player in the Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League. Pedro Anibal “The Bull” Cepeda and Carmen Pennes. Although Pedro was black, he famously refused to play in the Negro Leagues in the United States because he was plagued there by the racist culture of the mainland.

Orlando idolized his father and black Cuban MLB pioneer Minnie Miñoso before launching his own career. Since racial segregation had fallen in the league during his elementary school years, Cepeda moved to New York in the 1950s and later to Georgia to work his way up in the minor leagues. There he struggled with social problems both because of his skin color and his initial inability to speak English.

Cepeda was called up to the major leagues in 1958, where he quickly became a household name thanks to his outstanding hitting. He was unanimously voted Rookie of the Year and set a record for most home runs by a first-year player in the National League.

Cepeda continued to dominate the batting statistics for the next five years, making a number of All-Star appearances and leading the NL in home runs during the 1961 season. He finished second in the NL Most Valuable Player balloting that year and won the award in 1967 after being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he achieved his greatest career success, leading the team to their eighth World Series title and also leading the NL in runs batted in.

His triumph with the Cardinals ultimately proved to be the highlight of Cepeda's playing career, as injuries led to a decline in performance during his final decade in MLB. He played for five teams between 1969 and 1974, when he retired after a brief stint with the Kansas City Royals.

Despite his gregarious personality and good rapport with many of his teammates, Cepeda's personal life came under scrutiny after his retirement as he faced various legal problems. He was involved in drug trafficking and was arrested in his native Puerto Rico in 1975 after smuggling narcotics from Colombia. Complicating matters were subsequent cases involving a weapons charge and spousal/child support payments to his first wife, Annie, whom he divorced in 1973. Cepeda was sentenced to five years in prison on the drug charge, temporarily tarnishing his reputation with many of his fellow Islanders. He served ten months before moving to a halfway house in Philadelphia.

Cepeda was formerly a Catholic and credited his conversion to Buddhism as a source of renewal in his life after returning to the major leagues as a scout for the Chicago White Sox. He also coached a team in the Puerto Rican league where his father was once the star. Later, Cepeda served in Latin America as a scout for his former team, the Giants. When the team's new stadium, Oracle Park, opened in 2000, Cepeda operated his own concession stand; within a decade, a bronze statue of him was unveiled on the grounds.

Although he was not inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame during the regular eligibility period, Cepeda was selected by the Veterans Committee in 1999, becoming only the second Puerto Rican in history to make it to Cooperstown. The Giants retired his jersey number that same year.

“Orlando has been a great ambassador for the game throughout his playing career and beyond,” said Giants chairman Greg Johnson.

“For all of Orlando's extraordinary accomplishments in baseball, it was his generosity, kindness and joy that set him apart. No one loved the game more,” added team president and CEO Larry Baer.

Cepeda was personally honored by the team in 2017 with a special celebration for his 80th birthday. However, he struggled with major health issues the following year when he fell in a parking lot after suffering a heart attack and spent several months in the hospital. In 2020, he was reportedly suffering from dementia, although he denied this. At the time of his death, he was living at his home in Concord, California.

Cepeda leaves behind his second wife Nydia and his five sons Hector, Orlando Jr., Carl, Malcolm and Ali Manuel. His third wife Mirian predeceased him.

As of Friday morning, no public funeral arrangements have been announced, but tax-deductible donations may be made to the Orlando Cepeda Foundationwhich is committed to preserving Cepeda's legacy.

Nate Tinner Williams is co-founder and editor of the Black Catholic Messenger.

Would you like to support BCM's work? You have options.

A.) Click here to donate (free of charge) on Zeffy