Marichal and Cepeda: Giant bonds of brotherhood

The experience of joining the San Francisco Giants in the late 1950s and early 1960s bonded Orlando Cepeda and Juan Marichal. To this day, their bond that goes beyond once having been teammates. They are more like brothers, ready to come to each other’s aid and assist in whatever way possible.

The close connection formed between Cepeda and Marichal remind us how certain experiences bond people for life. These experiences can be joyful moments, getting through traumatic events, or long-term encounters that enable individuals to see and embrace their commonalty. Individuals can become like kin even when they were from different walks of life or different places or countries. The bonds form can also expedite healing and recovery as individuals recall their shared past and triumphs.

Forged in the Minors

Cepeda and Marichal entered the major leagues as baseball was becoming racially integrated. Long before they had established their Hall of Fame credentials, the two were minor leaguers in the Giants organization. As young men who left their native Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic in 1955 and 1957, respectively, they encountered a U.S. society with which they were quite unfamiliar. It was not just the language but also the culture where race played such a powerful role between who could do what, when, and where.

That experience of living in minor league towns shaped their early years in the United States. Many of these minor league towns had Jim Crow laws or segregation practices that restricted their ability to sleep, eat, or simply go to a movie theater like white Americans could. This, quite unsurprisingly, had an impact on how Cepeda and Marichal would turn to each other for emotional support, to share a good laugh, or a conversation in Spanish.

Those experiences also made the two almost inseparable once in the major leagues with the San Francisco Giants. The two shared more than Caribbean roots, they had the experience of being Latinos participating in the transformation of the major leagues into a racially integrated sport.

A Deep Bond

The depth of that bond between Cepeda and Marichal was evident in the account that Marichal shared at this year’s Fan Fest in Washington, D.C. Interviewing Marichal in my role as a clubhouse emcee on the All-Star Clubhouse stage, I asked for an update on Orlando Cepeda.

Cepeda had a serious health scare this past February. The Hall of Famer suffered a head injury after falling while exiting from a gym—it later was determined Cepeda had had a stroke causing the fall.

The story Marichal shared of visiting Cepeda had all those in the audience spellbound.

Marichal recounted that he was in the Dominican Republic when he received news of Cepeda having been hospitalized in critical condition. He immediately booked a flight to California. Given the distance and multiple flights required, it would be nearly 16 hours before he arrived to the Oakland area hospital where his friend laid in a coma.

He was not prepared to see his buddy, the man who was known as the Baby Bull, to be lying in such a state: weak, hurting, and unresponsive.

Later during his visit, Marichal told us, he placed his hand in Cepeda’s and began talking to his friend of almost 60 years.

Orlando, this is Juan. I have come from the Dominican Republic to see you. If you can hear me, open your eyes.

Marichal insisted he saw Orlando trying to open his eyes.

He continued talking to his friend, asking for a sign of recognition, looking for a glimmer of hope that Cepeda was going to recover.

Orlando, if you really hear me, trying squeezing my hand.

Marichal told the audience that he could feel the grip tighten from Cepeda’s powerful hands, with which he had belted 379 home runs.

The following day, Orlando Cepeda came out of the coma to the relief of the Cepeda family and of his baseball brother Juan Marichal.

Cepeda continues his recovery in California. While unable to attend the 2018 Induction Ceremony in Cooperstown, he has been able to return to AT&T Park for a game in early July. Cepeda then told John Shea, long-time Giants beat reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, “Coming to the ballpark is like coming home.”

Marichal, for his part, told me after our onstage interview, “I’m just happy to have my brother back.”

Featured Image: Michael Zagaris / Getty Images Sport