The Giants have announced that in September, they will reveal a statue of Orlando Cepeda, our phenomenal historic 1B. Frankly, I think it's about time. Juan Marichal's statue is deserved, as is McCovey's. We don't have one of Mays, but the underground diehards call the park "Mays Field". It seems rather natural that Cepeda would be next, and here's a little bit about why:
In 1961, he led the NL in HR, RBI and bats-per-HR; 2nd in MVP voting. In '62, he helped take us to the World Series. In 1967 (although he was traded to the Cardinals), he finally won the NL MVP. He was a 10-time All-Star for S.F. from 1959-64, when they still played two a year; only Mays and Bonds have had more appearances as Giants. In 1999, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, joining Roberto Clemente as the only other Puerto Rican to have such an honor.
There are more stats as well, which you can read about here. And in addition to this, he was a forerunner for major latino stars of the game, encouraging many of them to play by his example.
It may not be a coincidence that the team continues to parade its historic presence given their "performance" this year (even though the sooner we trade more vets, the sooner we can be excited about watching the youngsters grow as a team), but I do not expect any hardcore fan to complain about the deserved honor no matter how it came about.
Charge, "Baby Bull"; charge.
-MSH
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