Orlando Cepeda passed away last week. He was 86 years old. Although Cepeda began his career with the San Franciso Giants, they traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals early in the 1966 campaign shortly after I started following baseball. Cepeda eventually played three and a half seasons with the Atlanta Braves, so most of my memories of him involve his time with the Cardinals and Braves. 

Cepeda played well for the Cardinals for the remainder of the 1966 season. In 1967, Cepeda had two singles in the first major-league game I ever saw in person. His performance dropped off significantly in 1968, and toward the end of Spring Training in 1969, the Cardinals traded him to the Braves for Joe Torre. 

I remember being shocked by the trade; I was in fifth grade at the time. Researching the days leading up to the trade, I apparently wasn’t the only person surprised by the deal. The trade had more to do with an argument between Torre and Braves’ vice president Paul Richards than it did with either team really wanting to part with their star players. Torre, who was injured for much of the 1967 and 1968 seasons, took umbrage with Richards telling the press that Torre hadn’t done much for the team during those years. Richards wanted to cut Torre’s salary, but Torre wanted a public apology in addition to keeping his salary of $65K. 

Right up to the day before the trade, it seemed all but certain Torre was going to the New York Mets. Newspaper reports said the Braves were sending him north in exchange for catcher Jerry Grote, pitcher Nolan Ryan, and outfielder Amos Otis or Grote, Ryan, and $200K. Ryan threw for Braves’ manager Luman Harris three days before the trade, and Harris not only pronounced Ryan’s arm sound, but he also said, “He’s got a chance to be one helluva pitcher.” Good one, Luman. 

The Mets lost out on Torre, but they got the last laugh on both the Braves and the Cardinals. The Miracle Mets not only won the first National League Eastern Division title, but also knocked off the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. The Braves won the Western Division title, but the Mets made short work of them in the National League Championship Series. Ryan pitched seven innings in relief in Game 3 to get the win. Cepeda hit .455 in the Series, but he committed a crucial error in Game 1. Meanwhile, Torre never got his public apology, and the Cardinals finished fourth in the NL East. 

Cepeda had a big year for the Braves in 1970, slamming 34 homers with 111 runs batted in, while batting .305, but by the following season both his knees were shot. He survived the ‘71 season, but after 28 games in 1972, the Braves traded him to the Oakland Athletics. Cepeda went 0-3 as a pinch hitter, and his season was over early in July. Oakland released him during the offseason. 

The American League began using the designated hitter in 1973, and the Boston Red Sox signed Cepeda to fill that role. He hit .289 with 20 homers and 86 RBIs, but the Red Sox went with youth in the spring of 1974 and released Cepeda. He caught on with the Kanas City Royals, but was not effective, and was done for good at the end of the season. 

Orlando Cepeda was the unanimous choice for NL Rookie of the Year in 1958 and unanimous choice for NL Most Valuable Player in 1967. He went into the Hall of Fame in 1999.

(All statistics are from Baseball Reference; all game details are from Retrosheet. Details of the rift between Joe Torre and Paul Richards are from an Associated Press article published in the March 14, 1969 edition of the Atlanta Journal. Details of the proposed trade between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets, including the quote from Luman Harris, are from a column by staff writer Milt Browning published in the March 16, 1969 edition of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Access to all archived newspaper articles was through Newspapers.com.)