San Francisco – The San Francisco Giants stopped tonight’s game and asked for a moment of silence during Friday night’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Giants announced Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda’s passing after the fifth inning. Cepeda was 86 years old, he played alongside other fallen Giants, Willie Mays, and Willie McCovey.
”We lost a true gentleman and legend,” Giants chairman Greg Johnson said in a team press release. “Orlando was a great ambassador for the game throughout his playing career and beyond. He was one of the all-time great Giants and will truly be missed.”
Cepeda’s No. 30 is retired by the Giants and sits amongst the other retired numbers near the left-field foul line at Oracle Park.
“This is truly a sad day for the San Francisco Giants,” said Team President and CEO Larry Baer. “For all of Orlando’s extraordinary baseball accomplishments, it was his generosity, kindness, and joy that defined him. No one loved the game more.”
Cepeda spent nine of his 17 years in the major leagues with the Giants, making his big-league debut with the team on April 15, 1958, the same year the Giants debuted in San Francisco, against the Dodgers. He went 1-for-5 in the game, but that lone hit was a solo home run. He won the 1958 National League Rookie of the Year, hitting .312 with an NL-best 38 doubles, four triples, and 25 home runs with 96 RBI.
Cepeda was a 10-time All-Star with the Giants, getting selected to both of baseball’s All-Star Games when they held two a season from 1959-1962.
Cepeda hit .308 with the Giants with 226 home runs and 767 RBI. He also spent time with the Braves, Cardinals, Royals, and Red Sox before finishing his career with the Oakland Athletics.
In 1967 after leaving San Francisco, Cepeda won the NL MVP as a member of the Cardinals, along with earning his 11th All-Star nod and his first and only World Series ring as the Cardinals defeated the Red Sox in seven games.
Overall, he hit .297 for his 17-year career with 379 career home runs and 1,365 RBI. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 by the Veteran’s Committee.
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