Cepeda ties record with four-double game

The Boston Globe wrote of Cepeda, “Everyone knows he’s playing on two bad legs, and you expect he’ll do one or the other when he connects for a hit – single or homer.”

Cepeda did plenty of both in his lone season with Boston, hitting .289 with 114 singles, 20 home runs and 86 RBI. His legs still had a bit of steam left, though, and he showed it on Aug. 8 with a four-double performance.

On a 93-degree evening at Royals Stadium in Kansas City, Cepeda doubled to left field, doubled to center field and doubled to right field. He doubled off a fastball, doubled off breaking balls and doubled off what he described to the Globe as a screwball. He doubled off Royals starter Paul Splittorff and he doubled off both relievers who followed, Bruce Dal Canton and Steve Mingori.

“Orlando Cepeda might be operating on weak knees, but there is nothing impotent about his bat,” read the Kansas City Star’s headline.

Cepeda, who upon signing in January claimed he could handle more than a pinch-hitting role, extended his hitting streak to 12 games while also becoming the 12th player to record four doubles in a game. He was the first American Leaguer to accomplish the feat in nine innings since Detroit’s Billy Bruton in 1963, and to this day no major league player has tallied more than four two-baggers in a game.

“Records don’t mean anything to me,” Cepeda told the Globe. “I’m glad I had a good night. I’m happy for myself.”

Kansas City manager Jack McKeon commented to the Globe after the game, “It’s too bad Cepeda doesn’t have a bat to match his bad legs.”

McKeon, who was ejected for arguing with plate umpire Jim Evans, maintained that Cepeda had taken strike three before his fifth-inning double. Splittorf echoed this frustration, telling the Star, “Men like Cepeda don’t need four or five strikes to be a good hitter. What can you say about it. I threw pretty fair but I got beat.”

Questionable calls aside, Cepeda had posted a stat line worth celebrating – 4-for-5 with four doubles, six RBI and a run – as the Red Sox bested Kansas City, 9-4.