Tony Oliva hit hard by the deaths of two Hall of Fame brothers

Tony Oliva relied on his friend Orlando Cepeda for updates as Willie Mays’ health began to falter a couple of years ago. So Oliva knew Mays had been ailing for some time.

Oliva was saddened by Mays’ passing on June 18. But he was floored Friday evening when he learned of the passing of Cepeda, one of his best friends in baseball.

“For me, it was hard to believe,” Oliva said Saturday. “I talked to him about a week ago and he said he was ready to go to Cooperstown.”

Oliva looked forward to his twice-a-month conversations with Cepeda, a friendship that had lasted more than 60 years. They met at an exhibition game at New York’s Polo Grounds in 1963, when Oliva was breaking in as a Twins rookie.

“We started talking,” Oliva said. “And from that moment, we were like brothers, Orlando and me.”

Oliva played two seasons of winter ball in Puerto Rico, Cepeda’s homeland, where they forged that friendship.

In 1964, Oliva met Mays during the All-Star Game in New York’s Shea Stadium. That’s when Tony O. and the Say Hey Kid began their relationship. The three would run into each other at old-timers games and other functions after their playing days. Like Mays, Cepeda was a former Minneapolis Millers player, but he also played for the St. Cloud Rox in 1956, winning the Northern League triple crown. When Cepeda was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999, he mentioned Oliva among players who deserved a plaque in Cooperstown, N.Y.

“I know in the near future, Tony Perez, Tony Oliva and Luis Tiant, they are going to be here because they belong in Cooperstown,” Cepeda said that day.

It took a little while longer than the near future for Oliva to get in, as he was finally enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 2022.

I visited Oliva at his Bloomington home last week following Mays’ death. He included me in a search for a photograph of him with Mays, but two hours of digging turned up nothing. I did run across multiple photos with him and Cepeda. One of their more recent photos was taken in 2016, when they were inducted into the Negro League Museum’s “Hall of Game” along with Tim Raines and Andre Dawson.

A picture of Oliva and Mays has turned up, courtesy of Kathleen Berenguer, wife of former Twins reliever Juan Berenguer. She posted on Facebook a photo of Oliva, Mays, Berenguer, former Viking Matt Blair — and a certain close personal friend — from a Starkey Hearing Foundation Gala.

“Sid Hartman, Tony Oliva, Juan Berenguer, Willie Mays and Matt Blair. 19 years ago at the Starkey Gala. With Willie’s passing yesterday, only Tony and Juan are still with us,” she wrote.

Oliva was friends with Mays and was very close to Cepeda. So the last few days have been full of memories and sadness for him.

“Can you believe it,” Oliva said. “Back-to-back and so close.”

Joe Mauer never won the traditional Triple Crown, but he’s enjoying one now in retirement.

His run began last July when he was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame. In January, he discovered that he would have to repurpose his induction speech when he was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. That ceremony takes place July 21.

It doesn’t end there. On Monday, Mauer will be in Boston to be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame as part of a class that includes former NFL players Takeo Spikes and Tyrone Wheatley.

And if you want to include him being inducted into the Mancini’s Sports Hall of Fame last month — the popular steakhouse has honored local athletes for 39 years — it’s a grand slam of Hall of Fame inductions over a 12-month span. That’s a lot of speeches.

Cheryl Reeve wants her Lynx to receive their flowers after winning the Commissioner’s Cup last week. So let’s give them their flowers.

Some fans view this time of year as a sports abyss until NFL training camps open. That’s not the case here. The Twins’ 45-36 record at the halfway point of the season was five games better than through 81 games last year. And the Lynx are appointment viewing as they enter the WNBA championship conversation.

They might have the best defense in the league. Napheesa Collier is an MVP candidate. Only Caitlin Clark had made more three-pointers than Kayla McBride entering Saturday. They had won seven games in a row before losing to Dallas on Thursday. They are deep and hard-nosed, and Collier is one of the most dynamic players in the league.

So we have options this summer to follow successful teams that are headed for the postseason.

• Starting Tuesday against Detroit, the Twins have favorable matchups in the next four series heading into the All-Star break. They will go 8-4 in those 12 games while praying that Cleveland cools off.

• Terrence Shannon Jr. will make more of an early impact on the Wolves than Rob Dillingham. He can drive to the basket and finish. His three-point shooting improved in his final college season. He fits in defensively. And he’s four years older than the 19-year-old Dillingham.