Signing the first DH

The Boston Red Sox usher in the designated hitter era 51 years ago today as they sign free agent Orlando Cepeda.

Cepeda, the future Hall of Famer whose knees have been wearing down for years, is the first player to specifically sign on for the American League’s newly created role of the DH that will debut in 1973.

Cepeda – seen here with Red Sox general manager Dick O’Connell and team executive Haywood Sullivan, and most definitely repping the mid-1970s with those pants – joins Boston after a 15-year run in the National League.

During his time in the National League, Cepeda puts up 358 home runs for the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves.

Already 34 years old when he joins Boston, the physically declining Cepeda hits .289 in 142 games with 20 homers and 86 runs batted in as the Red Sox’s DH.

Cepeda then moves on in 1974 to Kansas City, where he plays in only 33 games for the Royals before retiring on his way to the Hall of Fame.

“I never saw myself as a home run hitter,” Cepeda later says. “I saw myself as a hitter who could hit the ball hard.”