Memorial for Orlando Cepeda takes shape after death of SF Giants slugger

People gather in front of a statue of Hall of Fame baseball player Orlando Cepeda outside the stadium before their MLB game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, June 29, 2024. Orlando Cepeda died yesterday at the age of 86. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

SAN FRANCISCO – A block north of Willie Mays Plaza, where fans paid their respects to a deceased Giants legend this week, a second bronze statue had been transformed into a makeshift memorial when the gates to Oracle Park opened Saturday afternoon.

After learning of Orlando Cepeda’s death at the age of 86 on Friday night, admirers of the trailblazing Puerto Rican slugger nicknamed “Baby Bull” began decorating his towering effigy at the corner of Second and King streets with bouquets of flowers, handwritten messages and photographs.

“What a punch in the gut,” said manager Bob Melvin. “The fact that he’s so close to Willie is just mind-blowing.”

In the Giants’ dugout, they displayed Cepeda’s No. 30 jersey and each player wore his name and number on a patch on the left sleeve of his jersey. It was the only space available for the commemorative patch, as there was already one honoring Mays on the left chest of each jersey.

“It’s been a tough month for the Giants, losing such special guys,” said starting pitcher Logan Webb, who found himself in the same position he was in last Tuesday when he learned of May’s death: heading into the start of the sixth inning.

An image of Cepeda appeared on the center field scoreboard, and the 40,052 fans watching the Giants’ series opener against the Dodgers in a sold-out stadium responded with a moment of silence. Webb and many other players on the field paused and removed their caps.

The emotions on the field paled in comparison to those three floors above, in the Spanish-language radio booth, where Cepeda was a regular guest. Cepeda, once a roommate of two of the Giants’ only Latin American players, came to Tito Fuentes’s booth three or four times a week, broadcast partner Erwin Higueros said.

Higueros was informed about 30 minutes before the Giants made the public announcement and had the sense to wait until the broadcast was over, then informed Fuentes just before the rest of Oracle Park found out.

“I’ve never seen a man cry so much,” Higueros said. “They were like brothers. Like brothers. Orlando was still teasing Tito and Tito wasn’t responding. It was that kind of respect, even in old age. It was a kind of brotherly relationship, so he obviously took it very hard yesterday.”

When Fuentes was called up to the Giants midseason in 1965 as a 21-year-old from Havana, Cuba, he knew he had a strong ally on his side. Cepeda, already an eight-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year winner and MVP finalist, first met Fuentes a year earlier at winter ball in Puerto Rico and lobbied for him to be added to the roster that spring, a recommendation that came true a few months later.

Fuentes was called up in August and placed with Cepeda, who showed him around the city. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. At a time when players were still discriminated against based on the color of their skin, Cepeda also helped the young Fuentes overcome language and cultural barriers.

“He couldn’t teach you how to hit. But he could teach you how to behave off the field,” Fuentes said. Cepeda showed him the restaurants that welcomed black customers – and always paid the bill – introduced him to salsa music and taught him how to dress.

“Back then, blacks and whites weren’t allowed to eat together,” Fuentes said. “So we had to go to black restaurants that he knew. Of course, he usually paid because he was making money.”

Cepeda’s groundbreaking career did not end with his time as a player, as he also gave Higueros words of wisdom when he joined the Giants in 1998.

Make sure you represent the Giants, don’t forget thathe told him. You represent us, the Hispanic community. And you represent yourself. Whatever good you do will impact all three, and if you do bad, it will impact us negatively.

“That’s one of the things he told me and one of the things I still remember,” Higueros said.

Fuentes remembers the day Cepeda was sold to St. Louis – Mother’s Day 1966 – and he cried then, too.

“He hugged me and said, ‘Roommate, I have to go. They traded me,'” Fuentes said.

Needing to make room for another up-and-coming first baseman named Willie McCovey, the team sent Cepeda to the Cardinals in one of the most regrettable transactions in franchise history. Before knee problems ended his career, Cepeda was named MVP for the Cardinals in 1967.