Heralding Freedom of the Press Since 2003
Orlando Cepeda. Courtesy SF Giants
Orlando Cepeda dies at 86, days after teammate Mays
Baseball Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda has passed away at the age of 86, just 10 days after the death of his longtime teammate and fellow icon Willie Mays.
​
Throughout his illustrious career, which saw him play for teams such as the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox, and Kansas City Royals, Cepeda achieved impressive stats. He slammed 379 home runs, drove in 1,365 runs, and hit. 297 with an OPS of 849. In his rookie year of 1958, he was named Rookie of the Year in San Francisco.
​
Giants CEO Larry Baer expressed his sorrow over the loss, stating: "This is truly a sad day for the San Francisco Giants. For all of Orlan- do's extraordinary baseball accomplishments, it was his generosity, kindness, and joy that defined him. No one loved the game more."​​
Cepeda's wife, Nydia, released a statement saying: "Our beloved Orlando passed away peacefully at home this evening, listening to his favorite music and surrounded by his loved ones. We take comfort that he is at peace."
​
Willie Mays, who was a teammate of Cepeda at the Giants, passed away earlier this month. Reflecting on Cepeda's playing days, Mays described him as strong and formidable, a real challenge for pitchers.
​
"He is annoying every pitcher in the league. He is strong, he hits to all fields and he makes all the plays. He's the most relaxed first-year man I ever saw," Mays said of his teammate's rookie campaign.
Cepeda, an 11-time All-Star and World Series champ, hung up his cleats in 1974 but later faced legal troubles, serving time for smuggling marijuana from Colombia to Puerto Rico. A statement from his former club read: "The St. Louis Cardinals offer our condolences to the family and friends of Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda who sadly passed away earlier this evening at the age 86.
​
"Orlando brought his love for life and the game of baseball to St. Louis in 1966, and enjoyed an MVP season the following year while helping the 'El Birdos' Cardinals to a World Series title in 1967.
Baseball Great Willie Mays
Willie Mays' case as baseball's GOAT: 24-time MLB All-Star was the perfect five-tool superstar. The slugger twice hit four homers in a game in 1961, and topped 50 homeruns a season twice. CBS Sports screenshot
'Say Hey Kid' Dead at 93
The baseball world lost a legend on Tuesday night with the passing of Willie Mays. Despite the gravity that the word "legend" carries, that still might not do justice to his greatness.
​
There's a short list in the heads of all long-time, die-hard baseball fans of the greats: Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams. Knowing what we know now, Josh Gibson should sure be on that list. Obviously, Mays belongs toward the top, alongside Ruth and Aaron. In fact, there's an argument to be made that he is THE greatest player in baseball history.
​
In honor of Willie's life, spanning 93 years of positivity and baseball ambassadorship, let's now make that case.
When you hear the term "five-tool superstar," there was no greater historical example than Mays. We could go greater than five things, too, because Mays was amazing at everything. He checked every single virtual box you can dream up, winning MVPs, Gold Gloves (there weren't Silver Sluggers yet, but he'd have had a closet full), a World Series, a Rookie of the Year and making a whopping 24 All-Star teams. He went pro as a 17 year old for the Birmingham Black Barons and hit Major League Baseball at age 20.
We can start with the easy stuff.
Mays scored 2,068 career runs, good for seventh all-time. He scored at least 100 runs in a season 12 times. Only nine players in history did so, with Hank Aaron leading the way at 15. Mays ended up with 1,909 RBI in his career, which ranks 12th in history. He topped 100 RBI 10 times, one of 18 players in history to do so. The only players to top 1,900 runs and RBI were Ruth, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Musial, Cobb, Barry Bonds, Cap Anson, Hank Aaron and Mays.
​
Mays ended up with 3,293 hits, which is now 13th all-time. He doubled 525 times (46th) and tripled 141 times (63rd). His 660 home runs are now sixth in MLB history. Add it all up and his 6,080 total bases trail only Aaron,
Pujols and Musial. His 1,326 extra-base hits are sixth behind Aaron, Bonds, Pujols, Musial and Ruth.
While doing all this, Mays posted a .301/.384/.557 line, which was good for a 155 OPS+, meaning he hit over .300 while being 55 percent better than the average hitter at getting on base and hitting for power throughout his entire career.
Again, placing Mays in history as a hitter and run producer is the easy stuff. He also led the majors in stolen bases four times and ended his career with 339 steals.
It's a bit harder to quantify defense, of course. We know all about "The Catch" and it's one of baseball's most famous catches for a reason. The over-the-shoulder catch has a much higher degree of difficulty than any type of dive and Mays did it in the World Series going straight backward. He even whirled and made a strong throw instead of basking in the glory of the catch.
Speaking of his arm, did you know that he led the league in assists from center field three times? He also finished second four times and third three times. In nine different seasons, he had at least 10 outfield assists.
Again, it's difficult to quantify defense, especially range in the pre-Statcast days, but there are stats that have tried. Total Zone Runs has Mays 12th all-time with the only center fielder above him being Andruw Jones, who is generally regarded as the greatest defensive center fielder ever.
​
Jim Brown's multi-faceted career spanned professional football with the Cleveland Browns, a distinguished time in Hollywood, and activism in civil rights.
Jim Brown, NFL great, Hollywood star, civil rights activist dies at 87
LOS ANGELES—Funeral services were pending today for Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown, the Cleveland Browns legend who went on to become a prolific actor and prominent civil-rights activist.
Brown died May 18 at his home in Los Angeles at age 87, according to a family representative.
"It is with profound sadness that I announce the passing of my husband, Jim Brown," Monique Brown said in a statement.
"He passed peacefully last night at our L.A. home. To the world he was an activist, actor, and football star. To our family, he was a loving and wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. Our hearts are broken."
​
Considered by many one of the greatest football players of all time, Brown played for the Browns from 1957-65, averaging more than 5 yards per carry en route to becoming the league's rushing leader in almost every year of his short but storied career. He was named the league MVP in 1965, and also led the Browns to an NFL championship in 1964. Brown was named to the Pro Bowl every year of his career.
​
"Legend. Leader. Activist. Visionary," the Cleveland Browns posted on the team's Twitter page Friday. "It's impossible to describe the profound love and gratitude we feel for having the opportunity to be a small piece of Jim's incredible life and legacy. We mourn his passing, but celebrate the indelible light he brought to the world. Our hearts are with Jim's family, loved ones and all those he impacted along the way."
Cleveland Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam issued a statement saying, "Jim Brown is a true icon of not just the Cleveland Browns but the entire NFL. He was certainly the greatest to ever put on a Browns uniform and arguably one of the greatest players in NFL history.
"Jim was one of the reasons the Browns have such a tremendous fan base today. So many people grew up watching him just dominate every time he stepped onto the football field but his countless accolades on the field only tell a small part of his story."
Seemingly at the height of his playing career, Brown opted to retire in 1966, while he was in the midst of filming the classic war film "The Dirty Dozen," featuring Lee Marvin and a host of other Hollywood dignita-ries, including Telly Savalas and Charles Bronson. Another classic was the 1969 Mexican Revolutionary War drama, "100 Rifles," featuring co-stars Raquel Welch and Burt Reynolds
Brown went on to appear in more than two dozen other films, including "Ice Station Zebra," "The Running Man," "Any Given Sunday," "Black Gunn," "Three the Hard Way," and "Mars Attacks."
At the time of his retirement from the NFL, he was the league leader in total yards with 12,312 and 126 touchdowns. He rushed for 1,863 yards in the 1963, a team record that still stands in Cleveland. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. A statue of Brown stands outside the Cleveland Browns' stadium.
Brown was destined for greatness out of college at Syracuse, where he was also a standout lacrosse player—he is a member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame—and also lettered in basketball and track.
Brown also became a noted civil rights advocate and anti-gang activist. He founded the Amer-I-Can program in 1988, aimed at helping at-risk and high-risk youth at inner-city schools and juvenile detention facilities. It also offers reentry programs for adults exiting prison.
He also worked as a football analyst for CBS, where he counted Vin Scully among his colleagues.
"On behalf of the entire NFL family, we extend our condolences to Monique and their family," NFL Commis- sioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "Jim Brown was a gifted athlete—one of the most dominant play- ers to ever step on any athletic field—but also a cultural figure who helped promote change.
"During his nine-year NFL career, which coincided with the civil rights movement here at home, he became a forerunner and role model for athletes being involved in social initiatives outside their sport. He inspired fellow athletes to make a difference, especially in the communities in which they lived."
His life was not without controversy. he had numerous run-ins with the law, beginning in 1968 when he was charged with assault, a case that was dismissed when the alleged victim declined to cooperate with prose- cutors. Brown was ordered to pay a fine, however, for striking a sheriff's deputy involved in the investigation.
Brown was charged but later acquitted in a road-rage case in 1970. He was convicted of misdemeanor battery in 1975 for assaulting a golf partner. In 1999, he was arrested for allegedly threatening his wife and vandalizing her car with a shovel. He was sentenced to three years probation, domestic violence counseling and commu- nity service.
But Brown failed to abide by any of those terms, and he spent three months behind bars.
Brown is survived by his wife, Monique, and children Karen, Kim, Kevin, Jim Jr. and Aris.