MVP Profile: Orlando Cepeda, 1967

First Baseman, St. Louis Cardinals

Age:  30 (Sept. 17)

2^nd season with Cardinals (first complete)

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’2”    Weight: 210 

Prior to 1967:

The son of Pedro Cepeda, an outstanding player in his native Puerto Rico as well as the Dominican Republic who was known as “The Bull”. Cepeda later came to be nicknamed “the Baby Bull” and grew up playing baseball in Santurce, Puerto Rico. As he grew and filled out, he developed a power stroke and was signed by the Giants, receiving a $500 bonus. He was first assigned to Salem of the Class D Appalachian League in 1955 where he hit just .247 with one home run in 26 games before moving on to Kokomo of the Mississippi-Ohio Valley League where he performed much better, hitting 21 home runs and knocking in 91 RBIs while batting .393 in 92 games. In 1956 Cepeda was promoted to St. Cloud of the Class C Northern League where he won the Triple Crown with 26 home runs, 112 RBIs, and a batting average of .355. Moving up to the Minneapolis Millers of the Class AAA American Association in 1957, he batted .309 with 25 home runs and 108 RBIs. Cepeda filled an opening at first base for the Giants, newly relocated to San Francisco from New York, in 1958. Concerns about his fielding ability at first proved to be unwarranted. He homered in the season-opening game against the Dodgers and went on to bat .312 with 25 home runs, 96 RBIs, and a league-leading 38 doubles. In 1959 Cepeda started the season at first base and was briefly shifted to third to accommodate the arrival of another power-hitting rookie, Willie McCovey, at first and finished off the year in left field. The positional changes didn’t affect his hitting, as he batted .317 with 27 home runs and 105 RBIs. Cepeda chafed at having to play in the outfield. Shifting between the outfield and first base in 1960, and adjusting to the new Candlestick Park, his home run total dropped to 24 and he knocked in 96 runs and batted .297. Similarly splitting time in the field in 1961, Cepeda had a big year at the plate, batting .311 and leading the NL in home runs (46) and RBIs (142). He placed second in league MVP balloting and was an All-Star for the third of an eventual six consecutive seasons. The Giants won the NL pennant in 1962 and Cepeda, playing regularly at first base while McCovey made the shift to left field, contributed 35 home runs, 114 RBIs, and a .306 average. Battling chronic knee pain and clashing with manager Alvin Dark, Cepeda continued to produce at the plate, batting .316 with 34 home runs and 97 RBIs in 1963 and .304 with 31 home runs and 97 RBIs in 1964. Hobbled by knee pain that ultimately required surgery, Cepeda appeared in only 33 games in 1965, utilized mostly as a pinch hitter. With McCovey now a fixture at first base, Cepeda started the 1966 season in left field until he was traded to the Cardinals for LHP Ray Sadecki in May. Moving back to first base for good, he hit .301 for the year with 20 home runs and 73 RBIs. Cepeda became a popular team leader, nicknamed “Cha Cha” due to his penchant for Latin music.

1967 Season Summary

Appeared in 151 games

1B – 151, PH – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 644 [11, tied with Tony Perez]

At Bats – 563 [20]

Runs – 91 [9, tied with Glenn Beckert]

Hits – 183 [7]

Doubles – 37 [2, tied with Hank Aaron]

Triples – 0

Home Runs – 25 [9]

RBI – 111 [1]

Bases on Balls – 62 [14, tied with Tom Haller]

Int. BB – 23 [3]

Strikeouts – 75

Stolen Bases – 11 [16, tied with Pete Rose]

Caught Stealing – 2

Average - .325 [6]

OBP - .399 [3]

Slugging Pct. - .524 [5]

Total Bases – 295 [6, tied with Vada Pinson]

GDP – 16 [7, tied with Tommy Davis & Gene Alley]

Hit by Pitches – 12 [1]

Sac Hits – 0

Sac Flies – 7 [4, tied with Tony Perez & Jim Wynn]

League-leading RBIs were +1 ahead of runner-up Roberto Clemente

League-leading hit by pitches were +2 ahead of runners-up Lee May & Ron Hunt

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 23, HR – 12, RBI - 59, AVG - .356, OBP - .431, SLG - .556

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 4 AB) at Pittsburgh 5/9, (in 5 AB) vs. Cincinnati 7/5 – 10 innings, (in 4 AB) vs. Houston 9/3

Longest hitting streak – 16 games

Most HR, game – 2 (in 4 AB) at Chi. Cubs 5/6, (in 5 AB) at Atlanta 7/28

HR at home – 8

HR on road – 17

Multi-HR games – 2

Most RBIs, game – 4 at NY Mets 5/20, at San Francisco 8/22

Pinch-hitting – 1 for 1 (1.000) with 1 RBI

Fielding

Chances – 1404

Put Outs – 1304

Assists – 90

Errors – 10

DP - 103

Pct. - .993

Postseason Batting: 7 G (World Series vs. Boston)

PA – 29, AB – 29, R – 1, H – 3, 2B – 2,3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 1, BB – 0, IBB – 0, SO – 4, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .103, OBP - .103, SLG - .172, TB – 5, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – 0

Awards & Honors:

NL MVP: BBWAA

All-Star (started for NL at 1B)

Top 5 in NL MVP Voting:

Orlando Cepeda, StL.: 280 points – 20 of 20 first place votes, 100% share

Tim McCarver, StL.: 136 points – 49% share

Roberto Clemente, Pitt.: 129 points – 46% share

Ron Santo, ChiC.: 103 points – 37% share

Hank Aaron, Atl.: 79 points – 28% share

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Cardinals went 101-60 to win the NL pennant by 10.5 games over the San Francisco Giants while leading the league in RBIs (656) and stolen bases (102). The Cardinals surged past Cincinnati to grab first place in mid-July and fended off the feisty Cubs to soar to the pennant. The loss of star RHP Bob Gibson with a broken leg in July failed to derail the Cards, as young pitchers Dick Hughes, Steve Carlton and Nelson Briles picked up the slack. Won World Series over the Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 3 as Gibson dominated on the mound with a 3-0 record and 1.00 ERA.

Aftermath of 1967:

The Cardinals repeated as pennant winners in 1968 but in the pitching-dominated season Cepeda hit only .248 with 16 home runs and 73 RBIs. He was traded to Atlanta the following spring and hit .257 with 22 home runs and 88 RBIs in 1969 for the Braves, who won the NL West in the first season of divisional play in major league baseball. The team dropped to fifth place in 1970 but Cepeda was better at the plate with a .305 average and 34 home runs with 111 RBIs. He started strongly in 1971 until an injury to his left knee resulted in further surgery that finished his season after 71 games. Cepeda started the 1972 season with the Braves and was dealt to Oakland at mid-season, appearing in only 31 games in all until lingering knee trouble sidelined him again. Released by the A’s it appeared that his career was finished until the American League adopted the Designated Hitter rule in 1973. Signed by the Boston Red Sox strictly to DH, Cepeda appeared in 142 games, never playing in the field, and batted .289 with 20 home runs and 86 RBIs and was named Designated Hitter of the Year. Released in the spring of 1974 Cepeda played briefly in Mexico until signed by the Kansas City Royals. As a DH in his final major league season he batted .215 with one home run and 18 RBIs. Overall, for his career Cepeda batted .297 with 2351 hits that included 417 doubles, 27 triples, and 379 home runs. With the Cardinals he batted .290 with 469 hits that included 87 doubles, 2 triples, and 58 home runs. He further compiled 1365 RBIs (242 with the Giants) and a .350 on-base percentage. Cepeda was an 11-time All-Star. Among his struggles in retirement, he served 10 months in prison for smuggling marijuana, after which he turned things around and became a “goodwill ambassador” for the Giants and went on to become honored for his humanitarian work. Cepeda was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Giants retired his #30. A statue of Cepeda has been placed outside of San Francisco’s AT&T Park.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.