Pedro Cepeda
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Pedro Cepeda, a.k.a. "Perucho" and "The Bull" (January 31, 1905 – April 16, 1955) was a Puerto Rican baseball player who was considered one of the best players of his generation. Called "The Babe Ruth of Puerto Rico" and "Babe Cobb" (referring to his dominance as a hitter and his legendary hustle evocative of both
Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...
and
Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the ...
), Cepeda was a Latin American baseball superstar. He was denied the chance to play in the major leagues because he was of
African descent Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in ...
and played the bulk of his pro career (which spanned the years 1928 to 1950) before the color line was broken by Jackie Robinson in 1947. Cepeda refused offers to play in the
Negro leagues The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans and, to a lesser extent, Latin Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be ...
in the mainland United States as he abhorred the racism endemic to American society at the time. He is now best known as the father of
Baseball Hall of Famer The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-re ...
Orlando Cepeda Orlando Manuel Cepeda Pennes (; born September 17, 1937), nicknamed "the Baby Bull" and "Peruchin", is a Puerto Rican former first baseman in Major League Baseball who played for six teams from 1958 to 1974, primarily the San Francisco Giants. A ...
.


Baseball career

Cepeda (birth name: Pedro Anibal Cepeda) was born on January 31, 1905 in
Cataño, Puerto Rico Cataño () is a town and municipality located on the northeastern coast of Puerto Rico, bordering the San Juan Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, and adjacent to the north and east by San Juan; north of Bayamón and Guaynabo; east of Toa Baja and wes ...
. As an adult Cepeda stood 5'11" tall (180 cm.) and weighed 200 lbs (91 kilos). He played
sandlot baseball Sandlot ball or sandlot baseball is a competitive and athletic sports game that follows the basic rules and procedures of baseball. It is often less organized and structured, as the name alludes to a makeshift field or an empty lot. History an ...
before signing his first pro contract with the San Juan Athletics in 1928. He played shortstop when he came up, although later in his career, he also played first base and the outfield. His aggressive baserunning was evocative of
Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the ...
, as he would slide into an opposing player defending a base with spikes up. In 1929, he played in the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
with the Sandino club, ranking among the league's batting leaders with a .429 average. In 1930, he played with the Venezuelan teams Cincinnati and Macon; he returned to
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
to play with Valencia in 1932, Selecion in 1934, Gavilanes in 1935, Centauros in 1939 and 1940 and Santa Marta in 1941. Throughout the 1930s, Cepeda often played in the Dominican Republic, though he would often return home to play baseball in Puerto Rico. In 1937, he played with the season with Ciudad Trujillo Los Dragones in the Dominican Republic. Featuring future Hall of Famers
Satchel Paige Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB). His career spanned five decades and culminated with his induction in ...
,
Josh Gibson Joshua Gibson (December 21, 1911 – January 20, 1947) was an American baseball catcher primarily in the Negro leagues. Baseball historians consider Gibson among the best power hitters and catchers in baseball history. In 1972, he became the se ...
, and
Cool Papa Bell James Thomas "Cool Papa" Bell (May 17, 1903 – March 7, 1991) was an American center fielder in Negro league baseball from 1922 to 1946. He is considered to have been one of the fastest men ever to play the game. Stories demonstrating Bell's sp ...
, the team, which was owned by dictator Rafael Trujillo, won the championship of the Dominican League (a professional Caribbean winter league). The Puerto Rican Winter League, known officially as the
Puerto Rican Professional Baseball League Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to: Places * El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain *Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines * Puerto Colombia, Colombia * Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela * Puerto Galera, O ...
, was created in 1938 and Cepeda was one of the first Latin American players who was signed to a contract. In the first four years of the Puerto Rican League's existence, he was its leading hitter, collecting 293 hits in 713 at bats for a .411 average. He played for the Guayama Brujos team that won the 1938–39 and 1939-40 Puerto Rican League championships. Cepeda won batting titles in both of those seasons, with averages of .445 and .383, respectively. He followed that up with averages of .421 and .377 in the 1940–41 and 1941–42 seasons, respectively, both of which were played with the Brujos ("Warlocks"). The Brujos disbanded after four seasons, and Cepeda played for the San Juan Senadores (1943–44 and 1944–45) before moving on to the Mayaquez Indios during the 1944–45 season and then to the Santurce Crabbers for 1945–46. The Crabbers traded him to the Caguas Criollos, where he played for the 1946–47 and 1947–48 seasons. Criollos, managed by Negro leagues star Quincy Trouppe, won the 1947–48 season championship. Cepeda apparently signed with the Caguas-Guyama team for the 1948–49 season, but records indicate he sat out the season. He returned for one final go-round during the 1949–50 season, where he appeared in a few games for the Ponce Leones. Cepeda was selected for the 1947 Puerto Rican All Star that played the World Champion
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
, who were engaged on a Latin America tour. Orlando Cepeda claims that his father went four for four in one of the games against the Yankees. Alex Pompez, the owner of the
New York Cubans The New York Cubans were a Negro league baseball team that played during the 1930s and from 1939 to 1950. Despite playing in the Negro leagues, the team occasionally employed white-skinned Hispanic baseball players as well, because Hispanics in ...
in the Negro leagues, announced he had signed Cepeda to his team, but Cepeda refused to play in the continental United States. According to his son Orlando, Perucho was a hot-headed man who lacked the inclination to put up with
racial segregation Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...
nor the temperament to endure racism. His nature was so volatile that he was known for regularly battling with hecklers in the stands into his 40s, for which he would be arrested the sent home with an admonishment by the authorities.


Later years

Perucho Cepeda never made more than $60 a week playing baseball. A hard-living, hard-drinking man (one of the reasons he was compared to Babe Ruth as he lacked the Babe's power), Pedro Cepeda worked for the San Juan Water Department during the 1940s while continuing to play in the Puerto Rican winter league. He died in 1955 from either cirrhosis of the liver or complications of malaria. Before he died, he ensured that his son Orlando, whom he had mentored as a ballplayer, had been signed to a pro contract with one of his old teams, Santurce. On April 27, 1955, Cepeda died in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Orlando used the $500 signing bonus to pay for his father's funeral. After Orlando was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York on July 25, 1999,'Induction Day at Cooperstown' by Dennis Cocoran, Page 192 he toured the museum. He was shown a team picture of the famous Ciudad Trujillo team of 1937, which featured his father. Orlando said: “It’s amazing. I didn’t know my father was here, in that picture, like he was waiting for me. What a surprise!"


Career statistics

Cepeda's Puerto Rican League Career Batting Statistics: *AB Runs Hits 2B 3B HR RBI SB BA SLG *1589 240 516 70 31 14 295 -- .325 .434


See also

* List of Puerto Ricans * Sports in Puerto Rico


References


External links


Pedro (Perucho) Cepeda
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Pedro (Perucho) Cepeda: The Babe Cobb of Puerto Rico
at SI.com by Myron Cope (originally published May 16, 1966) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cepeda, Pedro 1905 births 1955 deaths People from Cataño, Puerto Rico Sportspeople from San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican baseball players