The baseball community lost another Hall of Fame member when the great Orlando Cepeda passed away on June 28th. In honor of the "Baby Bull", I present the top 5 cards in my collection:
1974 Topps #83
Cepeda spent just a single year with the Red Sox, but it was a historic one. After the AL instituted the designated hitter rule in December of 1972, the Red Sox called Cepeda and asked him if he'd like to be the DH for their team. He accepted on the spot and became the first Red Sox DH in history. He had a chance to be the first DH in Major league history too, but a wild 1st inning from Luis Tiant gave that title to the Yankee's Ron Blomburg. Cepeda would go on to have a great season for Boston and became the first recipient of the Designated Hitter of the Year Award. He also became the first player in history to hit 20 home runs for 4 different teams.
1975 Topps #205 1967 MVPs
(Yastrzemski/Cepeda)
Cepeda had his best year in 1967, winning the NL MVP award and leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a World Series victory over Yastrzemski's Red Sox. Cepeda became just the second NL player to win the award unanimously.
2005 UD Past Time
Pennants #60
In addition to his MVP and Designated Hitter Of The Year awards, Orlando Cepeda also won the 1958 NL Rookie of the Year and was an 11 time All-Star. In 1959 he became the first Peurto Rican player to start in an All-Star game.
2016 Stadium Club #63
This card hits especially hard, with both players passing away in the past month. While Mays was a franchise icon, Cepeda was regarded as the first great "San Francisco" Giant. (Mays of course played when the Giants were still a New York team, and Cepeda's rookie debut occurred during the franchise's first season across the continent.)
2016 Topps Heritage
- Baseball Flashbacks #BF-OC
In retrospect, it's hard to believe that Cepeda had a long and difficult journey to becoming a Hall of Fame member. For the first 12 years on the ballot (1980-1991) he failed to surpass 50% of the ballots cast, and on his 15th and final ballot, he just missed induction with 73.5% of the vote. He would have to wait an additional 5 years before he was elected by the Hall of Fame Veteran's Committee in 1999. (Even then, his induction was overshadowed by his induction "classmates", the trio of Nolan Ryan, George Brett, and Robin Yount.)
RIP, Mr. Cepeda. You will not be forgotten.
Wow, I forgot about that Stadium Club card! It certainly is extra-meaningful now. I do have it, and I'm glad of it.
ReplyDeleteLove both of those vintage cards. Never understood why it took so long for Cepeda to get the call. He put up solid career numbers, was a 6x all-star, won an MVP award, the 1958 NL ROY award, and was a World Series Champion. But better late than never.
ReplyDeleteRIP
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