St. Cloud, MN – Former MLB player and Hall-of-Famer Orlando Cepeda will miss the St. Cloud Rox 2016 Turn Back the Clock Night on Thursday, August 11 to attend to his wife, who was recently hospitalized.  Cepeda, who turns 79 in September, was scheduled to sign autographs for fans at Thursday’s Rox game.  “I really was looking forward to coming back to St. Cloud but I need to be by my wife Mirian’s bedside as she battles through serious diabetes complications that recently put her in the ICU”, said Cepeda.

Cepeda, who resides in San Francisco was a member of the St. Cloud Rox minor league team in 1956, was scheduled to return to the area for the first time in 60 years. Cepeda won the Northern League Triple Crown in the 1956 season where he batted .355, had 26 homeruns and 112 RBI.

“Although we are disappointed that Orlanda can’t make the trip back, the most important thing is that Mirian gets healthy.  Our thoughts and prayers are with her and the entire Cepeda family.  We certainly understand that Orlando needs to be near his family and not be in St. Cloud on Thursday”, said Rox VP Scott Schreiner.

The Rox will still celebrate Turn Back the Clock Night presented by Capital One by honoring the former minor league team with special throwback jerseys, and giving away Throwback Prints for the first 400 fans. 

There are only two more regular season home games remaining for your first place Rox, as they take on the Rochester Honkers on Thursday and Friday. The Rox are in first place in the overall North Division standings, and could potentially also host a playoff game the week of August 15th. Stay tuned to StCloudRox.com for any updates on playoff games. 

The St. Cloud Rox are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 150 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.stcloudrox.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and on Google Play.