Cepeda’s death another ‘gut punch’ for Giants

This story was excerpted from Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Logan Webb experienced a painful sense of déjà vu on Friday night at Oracle Park.

As he jogged out to the mound for the top of the sixth inning of the Giants’ 5-3 walk-off win over the Dodgers, he saw the news flash on the scoreboard: Another Hall of Famer, Orlando Cepeda, had died at 86. Cepeda’s passing came only 10 days after the Giants lost Willie Mays, whose death was also announced when Webb was on the mound at Wrigley Field.

“I think it was the same inning too, as the last one,” Webb said. “It’s been a tough month for Giants baseball, losing special guys like that. He was another one that I got to meet when I was really young. It’s a huge part of what we are as players and as an organization. It’s awful.”

“That choked me up,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, a former Giants outfielder. “He was a gentleman. I don’t think there’s anyone in baseball that can say a bad word about Orlando. To lose two baseball greats, two great Giants, you can sense when that was announced, there was a somberness in the stadium.”

A power-hitting first baseman from Ponce, Puerto Rico, Cepeda quickly became a fan favorite after debuting with the Giants in 1958, the franchise’s first season in San Francisco. He crushed his first career home run against the Dodgers on Opening Day at Seals Stadium and went on to unanimously win National League Rookie of the Year honors after batting .312 with 25 home runs and 96 RBIs over 148 games.

The “Baby Bull” earned six All-Star nods over parts of nine seasons with the Giants and finished second in NL MVP voting in 1961, when he led the league with 46 home runs and 142 RBIs, a single-season San Francisco record.

Cepeda’s run with the Giants ended when he was dealt to the Cardinals in a much-maligned trade for pitcher Ray Sadecki on May 8, 1966. In St. Louis, Cepeda won two NL pennants, a World Series title and the 1967 NL MVP Award. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999, the same year the Giants retired his No. 30.

“What another gut punch,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “Another incredible personality. Just beloved here, the statue out front. The numbers he put up. There are a lot of legends here. He was certainly right in the middle of that. To have it so close in proximity to Willie, it’s kind of staggering.”

The Giants plan to wear special patches on their uniforms to continue to pay tribute to Cepeda and Mays, who will also be honored during a public celebration of life at Oracle Park on July 8 at 4 p.m. Admission is free and through the Willie Mays Plaza gates, which will open at 3 p.m.