Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda dies at age 86: Giants legend and 1967 MVP passes away just 10 days after his beloved teammate Willie Mays

Baseball legend and Puerto Rican icon Orlando Cepeda has died at the age of 86, just 10 days after his teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Willie Mays.

Cepeda, also known as “Baby Bull,” unanimously won the National League Most Valuable Player award in 1967 when he led the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series championship against the Boston Red Sox.

The announcement came from the San Francisco Giants, for whom Cepeda played the first nine seasons of his 17-year career, beginning in 1958. The Giants held a moment of silence before the sixth inning of Friday’s 5-3 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers.

Cepeda hit 379 home runs, drove in 1,365 runs and batted .297 with an OPS of .849. He played primarily for the Giants, Cardinals and Atlanta Braves, before stints with the Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals.

Cepeda won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1958, the Giants’ first season in San Francisco after leaving the Polo Grounds in New York City. He hit .312 with 25 homers, 96 RBIs and an NL-best 38 doubles in 148 games.

Orlando Cepeda waves to the crowd during a ceremony celebrating Willie Mays’ 80th birthday in 2011

Mays said of Cepeda’s rookie season, “He irritates every pitcher in the league. He’s strong, he hits all the fields and he makes all the plays. He’s the most relaxed first-year guy I’ve ever seen.”

Cepeda died just 10 days after Mays passed away on June 18.

Cepeda finished second in MVP honors in 1961, when he hit 46 league home runs and 142 Major League RBIs. He was also an 11-time All-Star, including eight in four consecutive seasons (1959-62), when the Majors had two such games.

Giants president and CEO Larry Baer said in a statement: “This is truly a sad day for the San Francisco Giants. For all of Orlando’s extraordinary baseball achievements, it was his generosity, kindness and joy that defined him. Nobody loved the game anymore.”

“Our beloved Orlando passed away peacefully tonight at home, listening to his favorite music and surrounded by his loved ones,” his wife, Nydia, said in a statement. “We take comfort in knowing he is at peace.”

Cepeda played only 33 games in 1965 and 19 in early 1966 due to injuries, and in the meantime Willie McCovey established himself as the Giants’ first baseman. Cepeda asked to be traded and was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals on May 8, 1966 for pitcher Ray Sadecki.

The Cardinals won 101 games in 1967, capturing the World Series title in seven games against the Boston Red Sox. St. Louis returned to the World Series the following season, but lost in seven games to the Detroit Tigers.

Cepeda was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999.