Cepeda, 3 Others Voted Into Hall

Orlando Cepeda, the Baby Bull who earned his reputation with a big bat, and three others were elected to the Hall of Fame Tuesday by the Veterans Committee.

Former umpire Nestor Chylak, turn-of-the-century manager Frank Selee and Negro Leagues pitcher Smokey Joe Williams also were selected.

The 12-member Veterans panel, which included former Cepeda teammate Juan Marichal, Ted Williams and Stan Musial, passed over Bill Mazeroski, Dom DiMaggio, former manager Dick Williams and umpire Doug Harvey.

Candidates needed 75 percent -- nine votes -- for election. Voting totals were not released.

"As a rookie on the Veterans Committee, I'm glad he got in on my first year," Marichal said of Cepeda.

"He was the type of player who had no fear, the type of player you wanted playing behind you," he said.

Induction ceremonies will be held July 25 at Cooperstown, N.Y. Nolan Ryan, George Brett and Robin Yount were elected in January by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Cepeda was the NL's rookie of the year in 1958 with San Francisco and the league's first unanimous MVP in 1967 with St. Louis. He hit .297 with 379 home runs and 1,365 RBI.

Also called "Cha-Cha," Cepeda played in nine All-Star games and often batted cleanup.

Cepeda played on great Giants teams with Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Marichal, all of them Hall of Famers.

Cepeda, 61, missed by just seven votes in the BBWAA election five years ago, his final try with the writers. He came close last year in voting by the Veterans.

In 1975, Cepeda was arrested at an airport on charges of trying to pick up 160 pounds of marijuana. He was sentenced to five years and served 10 months -- widely believed to have worked against him in previous bids for the Hall.

"I just hope this time I make it," Cepeda, a community relations representative for the Giants, said a few days before the voting. "It would be the highest thing. It's hard to describe how much it would mean."

Cepeda's father, Pedro, was called "The Bull" and also the "Babe Ruth of Puerto Rico." Cepeda joins Roberto Clemente as the only Hall of Famers born in Puerto Rico.

Chylak was an American League umpire from 1954-78 and worked five World Series and six All-Star games. He died in 1982.

Selee managed from 1890 to 1905 in the National League with Boston and Chicago, and had a winning percentage of .598. He died in 1909.

Williams, also nicknamed "Cyclone," pitched from 1910-32 with several teams, including the Homestead Grays and New York Lincoln Giants. He was credited with a winning percentage of .624. He died in 1946.

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