Orlando Cepeda just got a Twitter account, so I figured this was somewhat relevant.
It's sad to see this, but here's the story...
Beginning as early as April of 1964, Cepeda began to experience problems with his right knee. It didn't seem to have a major impact on his 1964 season, as he managed to compile 5.0 fWAR. But in December of that year, he underwent surgery for a torn ligament on the left side of his right knee.
Progress was going along fine, until he aggravated the knee injury in a footrace with manager Herman Franks in the second week of Spring Training in 1965.
He eventually returned to being full-time player in 1966, and was still fantastic over the rest of his career, posting an OPS+ of 125 over 4000+ PA from 1966 to 1974.
I can't help but wonder, though, what Cepeda's career would have looked like had he remained durable, and played until the age of 40.
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