Orlando Cepeda finally gets his due

September 7, 10:11 AMSF Baseball ExaminerDavid Bush

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Orlando Cepeda had to use more than one glove.

The baseball world was quick to embrace Orlando Cepeda and slow to honor him. But the statue unveiled this weekend outside AT&T Park the tribute is complete. He has been significantly recognized and rightly so.

    It was his fate to play in era loaded with superstars on a team loaded with first basemen. That, an some poor lifestyle decisions, worked against his being celebrated sooner.

    Cepeda, who arrived in the big leagues the same the Giants hit San Francisco, was an instant star with a personality to match.

     In his 17 year career he compiled the sort of numbers (.297 batting average, 379 home runs, 1,364 RBIs) and honors (Rookie of the Year, MVP, Comeback Player of the Year, six All Star selections) that are worthy of the Hall of Fame. He finally made it, but not until 15 years after he retired.

      A perfect fit in the City when it finally had landed its own major league team in 1958, the native of Puerto Rico was adored by Giants fans. Willie Mays was certainly the star of the team, and the story that San Francisco snubbed the New York transplant in favor of a rookie it discovered on its own has been overblown. Mays was appreciated and properly revered. But there is no doubt Cepeda was beloved, too. And while Willie was reserved in public, Cepeda did not earn the nickname Cha Cha sitting on his coach.

     But less than two years into his honeymoon with San Francisco, Cepeda found himself challenged by another future Hall of Famer at his position, Willie McCovey. Finding room for two first basemen in one lineup proved a challenge for a succession of San Francisco managers, and Cepeda’s reputation suffered being unfairly viewed as reluctant to move to another position. In 1961, McCovey’s first full big league season, Cepeda, playing 80 games in he outfield and 81 at first, put up spectacular numbers .311 batting average, 46 home runs, 142 RBIs. That wasn’t good enough  to win the MVP however, as Frank Robinson, one of many future Hall of Famers playing at the time, had stats almost as good as his Reds won the National League pennant.

     Cepeda finally was traded in 1966, and a year later did win the MVP as he led the Cardinals to the World Championship. Injuries dogged him in his later playing years, but until almost the very end he was a productive hitter. His arrest and conviction for smuggling marijuana, along with some obtuse thinking some voters, probably kept him out of the Hall of Fame until the Veterans Committee did the right thing and put him in nine years ago. He joined the late Roberto Clemente, another contemporary, as the only Puerto Ricans in Cooperstown.

    Despite his legal problems Cepeda has been good for the game, and his frequent presence around the ballpark lifts everyone’s spirits. The Giants employ him as a Community Representative, a high-falutin’ term for charity fund raiser and do-gooder. And he takes his responsibilities seriously.

     Still he had to wait while Mays, McCovey and Juan Marichal, had statues erected outside the new ballpark. No one quarrels with the trio being so recognized, and the Giants probably did it in the right order. Still, Cepeda was never sure his day would come.

   Now he knows and it’s about time.