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| Personal Info | |
|---|---|
| Birth | January 10, 1938 |
| Birthplace | Mobile, Alabama |
| Death | October 31, 2018 |
| Deathplace | Stanford, California |
| Professional Career | |
| Debut | July 30, 1959, San Francisco Giants vs. Philadelphia Phillies, Seals Stadium |
| Team(s) | San Francisco Giants (1959-1974, 1977-1980) San Diego Padres (1974-1976) Oakland Athletics (1976) |
| Career Highlights | |
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Willie Lee McCovey (born January 10, 1938 – October 31, 2018), nicknamed "Big Mac" and "Stretch", was an American slugger and first baseman who played Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics between 1959 and 1980. He batted and threw left handed.
In his first game as a Major Leaguer on July 30, 1959, he went 4-for-4 against Hall Of Famer Robin Roberts en route to a .354 batting average that year. Three years later, the Giants were in the World Series against the New York Yankees. In the bottom of the 9th of Game 7 with 2 outs, Willie Mays on second and Matty Alou on third, and the Giants trailing 1-0, McCovey slapped a hard liner that was caught by the Yankees' second baseman Bobby Richardson. That would turn out to be the closest McCovey would get to being a world champion.
McCovey's best year was 1969 when he hit 45 Home Runs, had 126 RBIs and batted .320 to become the NL MVP.
In 1974, McCovey was traded to the San Diego Padres and without him the Giants and their fans declined. But after three mediocre seasons as a Padre, and appearing in 11 games for the Oakland Athletics at the end of the 1976 season, he returned in 1977 to the Giants. That year, during a June 27 game against the Cincinnati Reds, he became the first player to hit 2 home runs in 1 inning twice in his career (the first was on April 12, 1973). One was a grand slam and he became the first National Leaguer to hit seventeen. At age 39, he had 28 home runs and 86 Runs Batted In and was named the Major League Baseball Comeback Player Of The Year.
On June 30, 1978, at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium, McCovey hit his 500th home run, and 2 years later, on May 3 at San Francisco's Candlestick Park, his 521st and last home run. The home run (off Scott Sanderson of Montreal) tied him with Ted Williams at 521 - and gave him the distinction of joining Ted Williams as the only players to hit home runs in 4 different decades.
In his 22-year career (19 with the Giants), McCovey batted .270, with 521 home runs and 1555 RBI, 1229 runs scored, 2211 hits, 353 doubles, 46 triples, a .374 on base percentage and a .515 slugging average.
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| Willie McCovey is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame |
McCovey Cove at AT&T Park (2002)
McCovey was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986, his first year of eligibility. In 1999, he ranked Number 56 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. McCovey Cove behind the outfield wall of the Giants' AT&T Park was named after him. The Giants retired his uniform number 44, which he wore in honor of Hank Aaron, a fellow Mobile, Alabama native.
In September 2003, McCovey and a business partner opened McCovey's Restaurant, a baseball-themed sports bar and restaurant, located in Walnut Creek, California.
McCovey died at Stanford Hospital on October 31, 2018 at the age of 80, following hospitalization for an infection.
See also[]
- MLB players who have hit 30 or more home runs before the All-Star break
- 500 home run club
- Top 500 home run hitters of all time
- McCovey Cove
- Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
Trivia[]
- McCovey wasn't the first player to triple against Robin Roberts in his major league debut. Curt Roberts, the first black player in Pittsburgh Pirates history, did it five years earlier. {Forbes Field -- April 13, 1954}
- Shortly after the 1962 World Series ended, Peanuts cartoonist and Giants fan Charles M. Schulz drew a comic strip with Charlie Brown sitting glumly with Linus, lamenting in the last panel, "Why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball just three feet higher?" Later, he drew an identical strip, except in the last panel Charlie moaned, "Or why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball just two feet higher?"
External links[]
- Baseball Hall of Fame
- Baseball-Reference.com - Major league career statistics
- Baseball Almanac
- Baseball Library
- McCovey's Restaurant
- McCovey rated among the Top 10 Leftie Homerun Hitters
- The Sporting News' Baseball's 25 Greatest Moments: McCovey Lines Out
| Preceded by: Don Drysdale |
Major League Player of the Month August 1959 (with Vern Law) |
Succeeded by: Eddie Mathews |
| Preceded by: Orlando Cepeda |
National League Rookie of the Year 1959 |
Succeeded by: Frank Howard |
| Preceded by: Ron Santo |
Major League Player of the Month July 1963 |
Succeeded by: Willie Mays |
| Preceded by: Willie Mays |
National League Home Run Champion 1963 (with Hank Aaron) |
Succeeded by: Willie Mays |
| Preceded by: Hank Aaron |
National League Home Run Champion 1968–1969 |
Succeeded by: Johnny Bench |
| Preceded by: Orlando Cepeda |
National League RBI Champion 1968-1969 |
Succeeded by: Johnny Bench |
| Preceded by: Steve Blass |
Major League Player of the Month April 1969 |
Succeeded by: Ken Holtzman |
| Preceded by: Bob Gibson |
National League Most Valuable Player 1969 |
Succeeded by: Johnny Bench |
| Preceded by: Willie Mays |
Major League Baseball All-Star Game Most Valuable Player 1969 |
Succeeded by: Carl Yastrzemski |
| Preceded by: Tommy John |
NL Comeback Player of the Year 1977 |
Succeeded by: Willie Stargell |