McCovey Cove is the unofficial name of a section ofSan Francisco Bay beyond the right field wall ofOracle Park, home of theSan Francisco Giants, named after famed Giants first basemanWillie McCovey. The proper name for the cove isChina Basin, which is the mouth ofMission Creek as it meets the bay. The cove is bounded along the north by Oracle Park, with a ferry landing and a breakwater at the northeast end. The southern shore is lined by China Basin Park and McCovey Point. To the east, it opens up to San Francisco Bay, while the west end of the cove is bounded by theLefty O'Doul Bridge, named after San Francisco ballplayer and managerLefty O'Doul.
The name was coined thanks to two sportswriters. Mark Purdy of theSan Jose Mercury News wrote an article suggesting naming the body of water after McCovey, though his original suggestions were 'McCovey Channel,' 'McCovey Stream' or 'McCovey Run.' Purdy then noted the more 'lyrical' name of 'McCovey Cove' was suggested by his colleague Leonard Koppett, a writer for theOakland Tribune.[1] The name did not take long to become very popular, although the moniker has never become official.
On game days, fans take to the water of McCovey Cove in boats and even in kayaks, often with fishing nets in the hope of collecting a home run ball. This echoes what used to happen during McCovey's playing days. BeforeCandlestick Park's upper deck was extended, the area behind right field was occupied by three small bleacher sections and a lot of open space. Kids in those bleachers would gather behind the right field fence when "Stretch" would come to the plate.
Just beyond the wall is a public waterfront promenade. Across the cove from the ballpark is McCovey Point and China Basin Park, featuring astatue of McCovey at the mouth of the Cove. At his feet are small plaques commemorating the winners of theWillie Mac Award, named in McCovey's honor. Along the southern shore of the cove, between McCovey Point and the O'Doul Bridge, is a walkway featuring plaques showing the Opening Day Roster of every Giants team from 1958 through 1999. Just south of the statue of Willie McCovey isBarry Bonds Junior Giants Field, a t-ball sized baseball diamond.[2] (As of 2020, the features in this area have been temporarily warehoused while extensive construction takes place.)
A "splash hit" is recorded when a Giants player hits a home run that lands in McCovey Cove on the fly (foul balls, home runs hit by opposing players, and hits that strike or bounce off the stadium wall or pedestrian path are not counted toward this total). These hits are tallied on an electronic counter on the right field wall. As of September 24, 2025, 108 splash hits have been hit into the Bay by 32 Giants players since the park opened; 35 of those were byBarry Bonds.[3] Seven other Giants have reached the Cove more than twice:Brandon Belt (ten),Pablo Sandoval (eight),Mike Yastrzemski (seven),LaMonte Wade Jr. (six),Denard Span (five),Brandon Crawford (four), andJoc Pederson (four). Five additional players —Felipe Crespo,Michael Tucker,Ryan Klesko,Aubrey Huff, andAndrés Torres — have done it twice. Nineteen other Giants players have accomplished the feat once. Bonds' splash hit on April 17, 2001 marked his 500th career home run.Carlos Beltrán's splash hit on September 14, 2011 marked his 300th career home run.Tyler Colvin's splash hit on May 12, 2014 was also his first hit for the Giants and occurred in his first at bat at Oracle Park since joining the team.[4] Bonds is the only Giants player to hit the Cove twice in the same game, having done so on May 10, 2000 and May 18, 2002. On June 15, 2021, two different Giants players got splash hits in the same game for the first time:Steven Duggar andMike Yastrzemski.
Two players have gotten splash hits while playing for the Giants and visiting teams.Ryan Klesko got a splash hit on April 9, 2003, while playing for theSan Diego Padres before getting two splash hits as a Giants player during the 2007 season. He was joined byJoc Pederson on May 24, 2022,[5] who became the first player to have a splash hit for three different teams, having previously hit two home runs into the water while a member of theLos Angeles Dodgers and theChicago Cubs.
Five splash hits have been walk-off home runs:Barry Bonds' on August 19, 2003;Brandon Crawford's on April 13, 2014; andMike Yastrzemski's three splash hits on July 29, 2020, June 19, 2023, and April 9, 2025.
Three splash hits have beengrand slams: Bonds' on August 14, 2001,Michael Tucker's on April 9, 2005, and Yastrzemski's on June 15, 2021.
Denard Span andLaMonte Wade Jr. are the only Giants to lead off with a splash hit, doing so on June 13, 2016 and June 2, 2023, respectively.
On September 15, 2024,Heliot Ramos became the first-ever right-handed batter to hit a home run into the water.
Bonds is currently the only Giant to record a splash hit in the postseason. He did so in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the2002 National League Championship Series on October 12, 2002.
When the stadium hosted the2007 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby, McCovey Cove was heavily featured in promotional materials, and the namesake slugger presented each participant with special bats before the competition. However, the difficulty of hitting McCovey Cove with a home run was shown, as none of the eight sluggers competing were able to hit the water on the fair side of the foul pole, and all three left-handed batters (who are more likely to hit home runs to right field, and thus, to the Cove) were eliminated in the first round of the contest.Justin Morneau of theMinnesota Twins andPrince Fielder of theMilwaukee Brewers were able to hit the Cove once each, but both of their hits were foul balls.[6] However, Fielder eventually did hit McCovey Cove with a fair ball on July 19, 2008, as the 13th visiting player to hit the 17th non-Giants home run into the Cove. It was also his 100th career home run.
Four visiting pitchers have each surrendered two splash hits:John Thomson,Liván Hernández,Rodrigo López, andChris Paddack. López is the only pitcher to give up a splash hit as a member of two visiting teams while pitching for thePhiladelphia Phillies and theChicago Cubs. No pitcher has surrendered two splash hits in the same game. However, two pitchers have surrendered splash hits to the same player twice: Thomson to Bonds on May 24, 2001 and August 31, 2001; and López toPablo Sandoval on July 30, 2009 and August 31, 2011.
The most splash hits the Giants have had in a season is 11 in 2001, nine of which were part of Bonds' successful chase to hit the most home runs in a season. On the flip side, the Giants did not hit any splash hits in 2015 (Cody Asche of thePhiladelphia Phillies was the only player that season to accomplish the feat). This splash-hit drought lasted nearly two years; afterBrandon Belt hit one on September 25, 2014, he would break the drought himself on June 8, 2016.
Every National League team has had at least one player hit a home run into McCovey Cove. The last club to have a player hit a ball into the water for the first time was theCincinnati Reds, doing so in April 2021. Of the 15 American League teams, only four (theBoston Red Sox, theTexas Rangers, theChicago White Sox, and theCleveland Guardians) have had a player hit a home run into McCovey Cove. No player for theHouston Astros has hit a home run into McCovey Cove since the Astros moved to the American League in 2013.
Luis Gonzalez' splash hit on May 30, 2002,Dioner Navarro's splash hit on July 20, 2011, andMax Muncy's splash hit on June 9, 2019, are the only three instances where a splash hit accounted for the only run of a game.
Brian Giles of theSan Diego Padres is the only visitor to lead off with a splash hit, doing so on August 24, 2008.
Two visiting players have hit McCovey Cove on the fly in the postseason.Rick Ankiel of the Braves hit the Cove in the 11th inning of Game 2 of the2010 National League Division Series on October 8, 2010; his run would go on to be the winning run for the Braves.Bryce Harper became the second visitor to hit the water in the postseason in the seventh inning of Game 4 of the2014 National League Division Series on October 7, 2014, as a member of theWashington Nationals.
Two Giants pitchers have surrendered splash hits to the same visiting player twice each: Morris toCarlos Delgado on April 26, 2006, and May 9, 2007 and Lincecum toAdam LaRoche on August 11, 2007, and August 27, 2010.
Daulton Varsho's splash hit on September 5, 2020 marked his first MLB career home run.Charlie Blackmon's splash hit on June 7, 2022 marked his 200th career home run.
On October 3, 2024, John "JT" Taylor of the BaseballBatBros YouTube channel hit the Cove twice during the filming of a home run derby video at Oracle Park. The first splash hit occurred with a Louisville Slugger RA13 maple bat, and the second with a 2016 Easton Mako XL USSSA bat.[8][9] On July 10, 2025, BaseballBatBros returned to Oracle Park to film a video of JT's brother, Will, attempting to recreate two iconic Giants home runs:Andrés Galarraga's 495-foot home run that reached theCoca-Cola bottle in deep left field in 2001 (the farthest home run ever hit at Oracle Park) andBarry Bonds' all-time record-breaking 756th career home run that landed behind Triples Alley in right center field in 2007. Will's attempts to replicate the home runs were unsuccessful, but he successfully recorded a splash hit at the end of the video.
On March 24, 2025,Riley Greene of theDetroit Tigers hit the water during a preseason game, but this would not be counted toward his career home run total.
On July 11, 2025,Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers became the first pitcher to hit a home run into the Cove, although he was in the lineup as the designated hitter in that game.
