It may have been worse in San Francisco, playing under Alvin Dark, who didn't (among other things) want his Latin players like Cepeda and the Alous speaking Spanish in the clubhouse.I'll have to chat with my father-in-law about this. He grew up in West Lafayette, Ind., and recalls seeing Cepeda play as he began his career in the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League in the mid-1950s.
I guess at the time there still weren't too many Black players at the lower minor league level, and being a Spanish speaker from Puerto Rico, I'm sure it was tough for Cepeda.
RIP.
Read an obit today that mentioned the A’s traded Denny McLain to the Braves for Cepeda. I don’t remember either of those guys in those teams.