Houston Astros manager Joe Espada remembers Orlando Cepeda’s impact

NEW YORK — Orlando Cepeda, one of the pioneering stars of major league baseball in Puerto Rico, played the final season of his Hall of Fame career a year before Joe Espada was born. But Espada, the Astros manager who is a Puerto Rican, got to know Cepeda later in life and developed an appreciation for Cepeda’s baseball legacy.

Cepeda died Friday at the age of 86, his former team, the San Francisco Giants, announced. On Saturday, Espada recalled meeting Cepeda about a decade ago while managing a winter ball team in Puerto Rico.

“He was always there,” Espada said. “You went to Bithorn (stadium, in San Juan) and he was there in the dugout, just sitting there, and you could see that people around him just wanted to talk to him. He had this light in him that you just wanted to be around him. He’s going to be missed. I think when you talk about Roberto Clemente, the next person you think of is Cepeda. It’s a sad day.”

During a 17-year major league career, Cepeda was a seven-time All-Star, the NL Rookie of the Year in 1958 with the Giants and the NL Most Valuable Player in 1967 with the Cardinals. He encountered legal troubles after his career ended and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by a veterans committee in 1999. Espada said his memory of Cepeda is that of a “human being of great stature” beyond baseball.

“The impact he had in our community, talking about baseball, you could be there all day with him, he took time to sit down and share his experiences,” Espada said. “But for me, it was what he was doing in the community. His foundation does incredible things for underprivileged communities and children. So we lost a truly good man.

The Astros and Mets observed a moment of silence for Cepeda before Saturday’s game at Citi Field.