Willie McCovey, longtime first baseman for the San Francisco Giants, would have turned 81 today. Sadly, he passed away last October 31st at the age of 80. McCovey died of what the Giants called a “long battle with ongoing health issues.” He had been in a wheelchair for many years due to two arthritic knees that required countless surgeries.
The 6’4″ McCovey, known as “Stretch” for his long arms and ability to snare an errant throw by an infielder while keeping his foot on the bag, was a fearsome hitter during his prime.
As a hitter, decades before MLB Statcast started measuring such things, McCovey was known for speeding bullet exit velocity off the bat. His launch angle yielded 521 career home runs, which was tied for the 8th most in the history of baseball at the time of his retirement in 1980.
“McCovey didn’t hit any cheap one[s]. When he belts a home run, he does it with such authority it seems like an act of God. You can’t cry about it.”
— Walter Alston, former Dodgers manager
Pitcher Roger Craig, who would manage the Giants for seven-plus seasons (1985-92), recalled a time his manager with the Mets, Casey Stengel, went to the mound with McCovey at the plate. “Where do you want to pitch him?” Stengel asked Craig. “Upper deck or lower deck?”
— San Francisco Chronicle, October 31, 2018
McCovey was so feared that he was intentionally walked 260 times, the 4th most for any hitter in the history of baseball. He still holds the National League record with 18 grand slams.
Cooperstown Cred: Willie McCovey
- Inducted into into the Hall of Fame in 1986 (81.4% of the vote)
- San Francisco Giants (1959-73, ’77-80), San Diego Padres (1973-76), Oakland A’s (1976)
- Career: .270 BA, 521 HR, 1,555 RBI
- Career: 147 OPS+, 64.5 WAR (Wins Above Replacement)
- 1959 N.L. Rookie of the Year (.354 BA, 13 HR, 38 RBI, 1.085 OPS in 219 PA)
- 1969 N.L. MVP (.320 BA, 45 HR, 126 RBI, 1.108 OPS, 209 OPS+)
- Let all MLB in OPS and OPS+ for 3 straight years (1968-1970)
- 11 different seasons with OPS+ of 150 or greater
- 6-time All-Star
(cover photo: Associated Press)
Career Highlights
Willie Lee McCovey was born on January 10, 1938 in Mobile, Alabama. He was the 7th of 10 children born to Frank (a railroad worker) and Ester McCovey. Young Willie McCovey was signed by the San Francisco Giants in 1955 at the age of 17.
McCovey was hitting .372 with a 1.219 OPS for the AAA Phoenix Giants in 1959 when he was promoted to the big club in San Francisco.
Manager Bill Rigney moved the 1958 Rookie of the Year (Orlando Cepeda) to third base (and subsequently left field) to make room for McCovey. The lean left-handed hitter responded to the promotion by hitting .354 in 219 plate appearances en route to his own Rookie of the Year Award.
In his MLB debut at Seals Stadium (the Giants home ballpark in 1959 and ’60), hitting third between Willie Mays and Cepeda, McCovey went 4-for-4 with two triples and 2 RBI off future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts. Future Hall of Fame 2nd baseman Joe Morgan, then 15 years old, recalled being in the stands that day.
It was years before the Giants figured out what to do with their talented two first basemen. McCovey played himself into a platoon role in 1960-62. For those three years, the first three for the franchise in Candlestick Park, Stretch hit just .171 with just 1 home run in 148 plate appearances against left-handers.
In 1960-61, Cepeda played left field when a right-handed starter was on the mound and played first base against lefties.
In 1962, manager Al Dark decided to make Cepeda, the bigger star, happy by playing him at first base full time. McCovey became a platoon outfielder, logging 250 PA against righties and just 12 against southpaws.
The 1962 World Series: Giants vs. Yankees
The 1962 season was the only in which Willie McCovey had the opportunity to play in the World Series, a 7-game classic against the famed New York Yankees. Because future Hall of Famer Whitey Ford (a left-hander) started Games 1, 4 and 6, McCovey was in the starting lineup only for Games 2, 3, 5 and 7.
In his first Fall Classic appearance (Game 2), McCovey hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 7th inning off Yankees’ starter Ralph Terry, helping the Giants to a 2-0 victory, which tied the Series at 1 game apiece.
Fast forward to Game 7, a pitchers’ duel between Terry and Giants’ starter Jack Sanford, a 24-game winner during the regular season.
The Giants were trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the 7th when, with two outs, McCovey tripled to deep center field. Terry stranded Stretch at third base, however, by fanning Cepeda.
In the bottom of the 9th, with the score 1-0 in favor of the Yankees and Terry still on the mound, Matty Alou led off with a bunt base hit. After two strikeouts, Mays doubled to right field, sending Alou to third. Up to the plate came Willie McCovey.
Terry, who had given up a walk-off home run to light-hitting Bill Mazeroski to end the 1960 World Series two years ago, gave up a long foul ball to McCovey, followed by a bullet line drive that was snared by Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson to clinch the Fall Classic for the Bronx Bombers.
If McCovey’s liner had been a little bit higher, or aimed a little further to Richardson’s right or left, he would have driven the tying and winning runs for the Giants and made Terry a two-time World Series walk-off loser.
1963-1970: Finally a Full Time Player
Although still playing the outfield, to which he was ill-suited, McCovey finally became a full time player in 1963. He responded by earning his first All-Star berth. For the season, his 44 home runs were tied for the N.L. lead with Hank Aaron.
Stretch also had a .915 OPS, which was 4th best in the league, behind Aaron and his teammates Mays and Cepeda. He still struggled against lefties, hitting .228 with a .710 OPS in 175 PA.
Bothered by an injured left foot, McCovey had an off year in 1964, hitting just .220. He was once again woeful against southpaws, hitting .145.
Cepeda had injury woes of his own and missed virtually the entire ’65 season due to an injury to his right knee. McCovey became the Giants’ full-time first sacker and never played the outfield again. He responded with a great comeback campaign, posting a .920 OPS while finishing 10th in the MVP voting.
It became obvious to the Giants’ brain trust that they couldn’t keep playing one of their two star first basemen in the outfield so Cepeda was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in May of 1966.
McCovey thrived for the next six seasons. From 1966-1971, Stretch made five All-Star squads. Even as he played in a tough park for hitters, he averaged 34 HR and 102 RBI while posting a robust .983 OPS (park-adjusted for a 175 OPS+).
McCovey finished 3rd in the 1968 MVP voting (led the N.L. in HR, RBI, SLG and OPS) and won the MVP in 1969.
In that MVP campaign, Stretch set career highs with 45 taters, 126 ribbies and his entire slash line (.320 BA, .453 OBP, .656 SLG). His park-adjusted OPS+ was 209 in 1969. Only 9 players in the history of baseball have posted a mark above McCovey’s 209.
He was also the MVP of the ’69 All-Star Game, hitting two long home runs in the N.L.’s 9-3 victory.
From 1965-1970, McCovey’s OPS (.983) and adjusted OPS+ (174) were the best in all of baseball. He had the most RBI (636) during this six-year stretch and was tied with Aaron with the most HR (226).
Although still an absolute terror to right-handed pitchers (.304 BA, 1.033 OPS), he held his own against lefties (.254 BA, .835 OPS).
1971-1980: Injuries Take their Toll
In the final exhibition game of 1971, McCovey tore cartilage in his knee. He played through the pain but was limited to 105 games. His knee needed to be drained throughout the season.
The 1971 season represented the Giants’ first baseman’s second and final postseason opportunity. The Giants lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS 3 Games to 1. McCovey did his part in the losing effort, hitting .429 with 2 HR, 6 RBI and a 1.413 OPS.
According to his SABR Bio by Mark Armour, his tater off Steve Blass in Game 1 was vintage McCovey, a vicious blast over the right field fence that Roger Angell described as “an intercontinental ballistic missile.”
Stretch suffered another injury in 1972, a fractured right forearm in the fourth game of the season. McCovey was limited to just 81 games and he wasn’t the same hitter when he was able to play; he hit just .213.
Despite two arthritic knees, McCovey rebounded in 1973, hitting 29 HR with 75 RBI in 130 games, while posting a superb 162 OPS+.
From 1971-73, the cash-strapped Giants traded four high-priced future Hall of Famers: Gaylord Perry, Mays, McCovey and Juan Marichal. McCovey was dealt to the San Diego Padres in November 1973.
Although his playing time was limited by his knees, McCovey played well for the Pads in 1974 and ’75, averaging 22 long balls per season while posting a still-impressive 145 OPS+.
1976 was a lost year; McCovey hit just .203 in 71 games before being dealt at the end of the season to the Oakland A’s, for whom he played just 11 games.
McCovey returned to San Francisco in the spring of 1977 with no promise of a job but responded with a comeback campaign. He played 141 games, hitting 28 HR with 86 RBI and a 132 OPS+.
The longtime Giant remained in the City by the Bay for the last three years of his career (1978-1980). With his playing time diminishing, McCovey played his last game on July 6th.
The Candlestick hero went out in style. In his fifth to last game, McCovey delivered a walk-off pinch-hit RBI double to beat the Dodgers. In his final game, one week later at Dodger Stadium, the opposing fans showered McCovey with respect, feting him with multiple standing ovations.
McCovey’s final at bat ended in a sacrifice fly that led to a Giants’ win.
Willie McCovey’s Legacy
Willie McCovey is one of the three greatest hitters in the history of the San Francisco Giants, behind only Mays and Barry Bonds, two of the greatest offensive forces in the game’s history.
Even after the PED era, McCovey’s 521 career home runs remain the 20th most in baseball history. He was arguably one of the three best hitting first baseman of the 20th century, behind only Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx.
When the Giants moved from Candlestick Park to 3Com Park (now Oracle Park) in 1996, sportswriters Mark Purdy and Leonard Koppett had the idea to name the water over the right field wall “McCovey Cove” in honor of the left-handed slugger. Their feeling was that McCovey would have deposited multiple baseball’s into the bay had he played at that park.
Even as he spent so many years in pain and confined to a wheelchair, McCovey was a regular at AT&T Park, a favorite adopted son for both the fans of the Giants and its players.
McCovey was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1986, a first ballot inductee with 81.4% of the vote. He was just the 16th first ballot inductee since the original class of 1936.
“I’ve been adopted by all the thousands of great Giants’ fans everywhere and by the city of San Francisco where I’ve always been welcome. And like the Golden Gate Bridge and the cable cars, I’ve been made to feel like a landmark too.”
— Willie McCovey (Hall of Fame speech, 1986)
No doubt that McCovey will forever be a landmark for the franchise of the San Francisco Giants.
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Willie McCovey Links
- SABR Bio (by Mark Armour)
- Baseball Hall of Fame Page
- Willie McCovey Hall of Fame Speech