McCovey, Willie Lee
Baseball
b. Jan. 10, 1938, Mobile, AL
"Stretch" McCovey was a 6-foot-4, 210-pound, left-handed first baseman who could hit the ball about as hard and as far as anyone could. He joined the NL's San Francisco Giants in July of 1959 and went 4 for 4 in his first game, including 2 triples, against future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts. Although he played in only 52 games, he hit 13 home runs and was named the league's rookie of the year.
Because the Giants had right-handed slugger Orlando Cepeda at first base, McCovey was only a part-time player for the next three seasons. He hit 20 home runs and had 54 RBI in just 229 at-bats in 1962, when the Giants won the pennant but lost the World Series to the New York Yankees in seven games. In the 9th inning of the final game, McCovey came up with two outs, runners on second and third, and the Giants trailing 1-0. He hit a vicious line drive toward right field, but it was snared by Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson and the Series was over.
In 1963, the Giants moved McCovey to the outfield to get his bat into the lineup everyday. He responded by leading the league with 44 home runs, batting .280 and driving in 102 runs while scoring 103. After being hampered by injuries in 1964, McCovey hit 39, 36 and 31 home runs during the next three season.
He won two straight home run titles, with 36 in 1968 and 45 in 1969, and he also led in RBI both years, with 105 and 126. He was the league's slugging leader three years in a row, with percentages of .545 in 1968, .656 in 1969, and .612 in 1970.
Nagging injuries cut into his playing time for most of the rest of his career. He went to the San Diego Padres in 1974 and was traded to the Oakland Athletics during the 1976 season. Then he returned to San Francisco in 1977 and had his best year since 1970, batting .280 with 28 home runs and 86 RBI in 141 games. He retired after the 1980 season.
In 2,588 games, McCovey had a .270 average on 2,211 hits, including 353 doubles, 46 triples, and 521 home runs. He drove in 1,555 runs and scored 1,229.