A local baseball Hall of Famer who won numerous honors - including Rookie of the Year and National League Most Valuable Player - during his 17-year major league career was arrested Tuesday in Cordelia on drug and other charges.
Orlando Cepeda, 69, of Suisun City, was booked into Solano County Jail on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana while driving and exceeding the speed limit. Bail was set at $10,000.
Shortly before 3 p.m., the California Highway Patrol was conducting LIDAR, also known as laser radar, enforcement along westbound Interstate 80 when an officer clocked a 2001 Lexus traveling at a speed of 83 mph between Highway 12 and I-680, officials said.
The vehicle was pulled over.
"The officer smelled an odor of marijuana and conducted a probable-cause search, looking for more," Sgt. Wulf Corrington said. The CHP's K-9 team provided aid.
Seized from the vehicle was marijuana, a syringe and a powder believed to be either cocaine or methamphetamine, the sergeant said.
The driver, later identified as Cepeda, was not found to be under the influence of drugs.
Cepeda, now a community representative for the San Francisco Giants, visits inner-city schools across the nation to warn at-risk children about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.
The Puerto Rico native played with the Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Oakland A's, Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals. He was named 1958 Rookie of the Year, 1966 Comeback Player of the Year, 1967 National League Most Valuable Player and 1973 Designated Hitter of the Year. He appeared in three World Series, was a six-time All-Star and hit over .300 nine times.
Cepeda was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999, and had a lifetime batting average of .297, with 379 home runs and 1,364 RBI.
Now there’s a name from waaaaaaaay back..........
Beisball been beddy beddy good to me!
Wait, I thought being in the Baseball Hall of Fame was similar to being in the choir of angels, and agents of Satan (such as Pete Rose and Mark McGuire)are kept out. How did this evildoer gain access?
Corzine has an opening for a driver ...
Do as I say, not as I do.
The Baby Bull sure loves the Ganja.
This is at least the second marijuana incident for the former Cardinal slugger. The first was for trafficking in large quantities.
I suspect Orlando will be retiring from that position shortly.
(He's probably like the Alan Arkin character from Little Miss Sunshine and figures, "At 69, What the F---?".
He was one of my favorite players when I was a kid. I’ve always wondered what happened to him.
Of course not. He has a history on the commercial side of the business, not as a consumer.
Here’s some thing I heard from a while ago, and may be an urban legend. When the Orlando area was preparing for its first NBA team, the Sentinel asked readers to submit names for the team. The 3rd most popular name was . . . The Orlando Cepedas.