| Willie McCovey | |
|---|---|
 McCovey in 1961 | |
| First baseman | |
| Born:(1938-01-10)January 10, 1938 Mobile, Alabama, U.S. | |
| Died: October 31, 2018(2018-10-31) (aged 80) Palo Alto, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| July 30, 1959, for the San Francisco Giants | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 6, 1980, for the San Francisco Giants | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .270 |
| Hits | 2,211 |
| Home runs | 521 |
| Runs batted in | 1,555 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 1986 |
| Vote | 81.4% (first ballot) |
Willie Lee McCovey (January 10, 1938 – October 31, 2018), nicknamed "Stretch" and "Willie Mac",[a] was an American professionalbaseball player. He played inMajor League Baseball as afirst baseman from 1959 to 1980, most notably as a member of theSan Francisco Giants for whom he played 19 seasons. McCovey also played for theSan Diego Padres andOakland Athletics in the latter part of his MLB career.
A fearsome left-handed power hitter, at the time of his retirement in 1980, McCovey ranked second only toBabe Ruth in career home runs among left-handed batters and seventh overall. As of 2022, he ranks 20th overall on baseball's all-time home run list, tied withTed Williams andFrank Thomas. He was a six-timeAll-Star, three-timehome run champion,MVP, and was inducted into theBaseball Hall of Fame in1986 in his first year of eligibility, only the 16th man so honored, at the time.
McCovey was known as adead-pull[2]line drive hitter, causing some teams to employ ashift against him.[3] McCovey was called "the scariest hitter in baseball" by pitcherBob Gibson, seconded by similarly feared sluggerReggie Jackson.[4] McCovey hit 521 home runs, 231 of them inCandlestick Park, the most in that park by any player. A home run he hit on September 16, 1966, was described as the longest ever hit in that stadium.[5]
Willie Lee McCovey was born on January 10, 1938, inMobile, Alabama, the seventh child of ten born to Frank McCovey, a railroad worker, and Esther.[6] He began working part time at the age of 12 and dropped out of high school in order to work full time.[7]
Despite being passed on by scout Ed Scott, who signedHank Aaron for theNegro American LeagueIndianapolis Clowns, McCovey was invited to aNew York Giants tryout camp inMelbourne, Florida, while he was living and working inLos Angeles. The invitation came from Giants scout and former Negro league owner Alex Pompez.[7]
In 1955 McCovey made his professional debut. TheSandersville Giants of theGeorgia State League inSandersville, Georgia had McCovey on their roster, with McCovey having signed a contract for $175.00 per month. His signing bonus was a mere $500.[8] McCovey was 17 years old, 6'2", 165 pounds, and proceeded to hit .305 with 19 home runs, scoring 113 runs in 107 games.[9]
On his way to theMajor Leagues, McCovey played for aSan Francisco Giants' farm club inDallas, Texas that was part of the Class AA Texas League. He did not participate when his team played inShreveport, Louisiana, due to segregation in that city. He later played for thePacific Coast LeaguePhoenix Giants just prior to being called up by the San Francisco Giants.[10]
In his Major League debut on July 30, 1959, McCovey went four-for-four againstHall-of-FamerRobin Roberts of thePhiladelphia Phillies with twosingles and twotriples.[1] McCovey found major league pitchers simpler to hit than minor leaguers because the major leaguers had better control of their pitches.[1] In 52 major league games, he had a .354batting average and 13home runs. He was named theNational League's (NL)Rookie of the Year.[6] He won theNL Player of the Month Award in August, his first full month in the majors (.373, 8 HR, 22 RBI). He had a 22-game hitting streak, setting the mark for San Francisco Giants rookies, four short of the all-time team record.[11]
The 1960 season was disappointing for McCovey. Season-long struggles caused him to be demoted to the minor leagues at one point, and the San Francisco fans booed him relentlessly. In nearly twice as many games as the previous year (101 to 52), he still hit the same number of home runs (13), batting .238.[12][13]
McCovey was not the only first baseman on the Giants. First base was also the natural position ofOrlando Cepeda, who had won the NL Rookie of the Year Award the year before McCovey and played about 60 games at the position in 1959 when McCovey was in the minor leagues. However, new managerAlvin Dark declared McCovey his first baseman for 1961, putting Cepeda in right field to begin the year.[14] Dark also assignedWillie Mays as McCovey's roommate.[15]
In 1962, Dark decided to put Cepeda at first base full-time and move McCovey to the outfield.James S. Hirsch, who wrote a biography of Mays, reported that a recurring joke among the Giants "was that McCovey didn't need a glove to play the outfield, just a blindfold and a cigarette."[16] Because McCovey had struggled against left-handed pitching, Dark played him only when a right-hander was starting and frequently pinch-hit for McCovey if a left-hander was brought in.[7] Thus, McCovey played only 91 games, but he still hit 20 home runs.[16] He helped the Giants to theWorld Series against theNew York Yankees,[17] the only World Series appearance of his career.[18] He hit a home run againstRalph Terry in Game 2, which the Giants won 2–0.[19] In the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7, with two outs and the Giants trailing 1–0, Mays was on second base andMatty Alou was on third base. Any base hit would likely have won the championship for the Giants. McCovey hit a hardline drive that was snared by the Yankees'second basemanBobby Richardson, ending the series with a Yankees win.[17]
The moment was immortalized in twoPeanuts comic strips byCharles M. Schulz.[6][20] The first ran on December 22, 1962, withCharlie Brown sitting silently alongsideLinus for three panels before suddenly lamenting, "Why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball just three feet higher?" The second, from January 28, 1963, featured Charlie Brown breaking an identical extended silence by crying, "Or why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball eventwo feet higher?"[21] On the occasion of his Hall of Fame election 26 years later, McCovey was asked how he would like his career to be remembered. “As the guy who hit the ball over Bobby Richardson’s head in the seventh game,” replied McCovey.[22]
McCovey spent many years at the heart of the Giants' batting order, along with fellow Hall-of-Fame memberWillie Mays. His best year statistically was 1969, when he hit 45 home runs, had 126RBI andbatted .320 to become theNational League MVP. He was also named theMost Valuable Player of the1969 All-Star Game after hitting two home runs to lead the National League team to a 9–3 victory over the American League.[23] He won NL Player of the Month awards in July 1963 (.310, 13 HR, 27 RBI) and August 1969 (.315, 8 HR, 22 RBI). In 1963 he andHank Aaron tied for the NL lead with 44 home runs.[6]
In the early years ofCandlestick Park, the Giants home stadium, the area behind right field was open except for three small bleacher sections. When McCovey came to bat, typically those bleachers would empty as the fans positioned themselves on the flat ground, hoping to catch a McCovey home run ball.[24]
Injuries limited McCovey to 105 games in 1971, but he reached the playoffs for the first time in nine years as the Giants won theNL West.[25] He was afflicted by injuries again in 1972, as he broke his arm early in the year in a collision at first base.[26]
He was traded along withBernie Williams from the Giants to theSan Diego Padres forMike Caldwell on October 25, 1973. Troubled witharthritic knees for two seasons, the 35‐year‐old McCovey was critical of managerCharlie Fox for diminishing his starting first baseman role in favor ofGary Thomasson.[27] The Giants had been trading their higher-priced players and gave McCovey input into his destination.[7] McCovey played in 128 games in 1974 and 122 games in 1975. He hit 22 home runs in 1974 and 23 in 1975.[28]
In 1976, McCovey struggled, and lost the starting first base job toMike Ivie. He batted .203 with seven home runs in 71 games.
Near the end of the season, theOakland Athletics purchased his contract from the Padres. He played in eleven games for them.[7][28]
McCovey returned to the Giants in 1977 without a guaranteed contract, but he earned a position on the team.[7] WithHank Aaron andFrank Robinson having retired at the end of the 1976 season with 755 and 586 home runs respectively, McCovey began 1977 as the active home run leader with 465. That year, during a June 27 game against theCincinnati Reds, he became the first player tohit two home runs in one inning twice in his career (the first was on April 12, 1973), a feat since accomplished byAndre Dawson,Jeff King,Alex Rodriguez, andEdwin Encarnación. One was agrand slam and he became the first National Leaguer to hit seventeen. At age 39, he had 28 home runs and 86 RBIs and was named theComeback Player of the Year.[29]
On June 30, 1978, atAtlanta'sFulton County Stadium, McCovey hit his 500th home run, and two years later, on May 3, 1980, atMontreal'sOlympic Stadium, McCovey hit his 521st and last home run, offScott Sanderson of theMontreal Expos. This home run gave McCovey the distinction, along withTed Williams (with whom he was tied in home runs),Rickey Henderson, andOmar Vizquel of homering in four different decades: the 1950s, '60s, '70s, and '80s. McCovey is one of only 29 players in baseball history to date to have appeared in Major League baseball games in four decades.[30]
In his 22-year career, McCoveybatted .270, with 521 home runs and 1,555 RBIs, 1,229runs scored, 2,211hits, 353doubles, 46 triples, 1,345bases on balls, a .374on-base percentage and a .515slugging percentage. He also hit 18grand slam home runs in his career, aNational League record,[31] and was a six-timeAll-Star.[32]
McCovey was a senior advisor with the Giants for 18 years. In this role, he visited the team during spring training and during the season, providing advice and other services.[33]
In September 2003, McCovey and a business partner opened McCovey's Restaurant, a baseball-themed sports bar and restaurant located inWalnut Creek, California. The restaurant closed in February 2015.[34]
McCovey was inducted into theNational Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986 in his first year of eligibility — making him the 16th player so honored. He appeared on 346 of 425 ballots cast (81.4 percent).[32][35]
McCovey is best remembered for the ferocity of hisline drive batting style. In his bookBall Four, pitcherJim Bouton wrote about watching the slugger blast the ball in batting practice, while making "little whimpering animal sounds" in response to each of McCovey's raw power drives. Reds managerSparky Anderson also had a healthy respect for the damage McCovey could do, saying "I walked Willie McCovey so many times, he could have walked to the moon on all those walks." AnnouncerJack Buck thought a McCovey line-drive home run to centerfield was the hardest ball he had ever seen anyone hit.[36] McCovey's bat was so lethal in his prime he wasintentionally walked an all-time record 45 times in 1969, shattering the previous record by a dozen. This remained the major league mark for 33 years until broken by fellow GiantBarry Bonds. The following year McCovey was intentionally walked 40 times. Once, speaking to the pitcher before a McCovey at-bat, Mets inimitable managerCasey Stengel joked, "Where do you want to pitch him, upper deck or lower deck?"
In 1999, McCovey was ranked 56th on theSporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players,[37] and was nominated as a finalist for theMajor League Baseball All-Century Team. In 2020,The Athletic ranked McCovey at number 76 on its "Baseball 100" list, complied by sportswriterJoe Posnanski.[38]
Since 1980, the Giants have awarded theWillie Mac Award to honor his spirit and leadership.[39]
The inlet ofSan Francisco Bay beyond the right field fence ofOracle Park, historically known as China Basin, has been re-dubbedMcCovey Cove in his honor. Since the opening of the ballpark at the start of the 2000 season, the Cove has been famous for "splash hits", home runs that are occasionally hit into the water by Giants players and retrieved by fans in boats or kayaks. Astatue of McCovey was erected across the Cove from the park, and the land on which it stands is named McCovey Point. On September 21, 1980, the Giants retired his uniform number 44, which he wore in honor ofHank Aaron, a fellow Mobile, Alabama native.[40][41]
McCovey was inducted to the Multi-Ethnic Sports Hall of Fame (formerly the Afro Sports Hall of Fame)[42] in Oakland, California on February 7, 2009.[43][44] The Willie McCovey field at Woodside Elementary School inWoodside, California was rededicated to him in 2013.[10][45]
McCovey's first marriage, to Karen McCovey, produced a daughter. On August 1, 2018, he married longtime girlfriend Estela Bejar at AT&T Park.[46]
In 1996, McCovey and fellow baseballHall of FamerDuke Snider pleaded guilty to federaltax fraud charges that they had failed to report about $70,000 in income from sports card shows andmemorabilia sales from 1988 to 1990. McCovey was given two years ofprobation and fined $5,000.[47][48] He received apardon fromPresidentBarack Obama on January 17, 2017.[49]
In his later years, McCovey dealt with several health issues, includingatrial fibrillation and an infection in 2015 that nearly killed him. After his career ended he endured several knee surgeries, which left him in a wheelchair and he was hospitalized several times.[50]
McCovey died at the age of 80 atStanford University Medical Center on October 31, 2018, after battling "ongoing health issues". He had been hospitalized for an infection late the previous week.[18] His longtime friend and fellow Hall of FamerJoe Morgan was at his bedside.[32] A public memorial service for McCovey was held atAT&T Park on November 8, 2018.
· Baseball Almanac| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by | Major League Player of the Month August 1959 (withVern Law) July 1963 April 1969 | Succeeded by |
Links to related articles | |
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