Willie Lee McCovey (January 10, 1938 – October 31, 2018), nicknamed "Stretch" and "Willie Mac", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a first baseman from 1959 to 1980, most notably as a member of the San Francisco Giants for whom he played 19 seasons. McCovey also played for the San Diego Padres and Oakland 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 to Babe 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 with Ted Williams and Frank Thomas. He was a six-time All-Star, three-time home run champion, MVP, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986 in his first year of eligibility, only the 16th man so honored, at the time.
McCovey was known as a dead-pull line drive hitter, causing some teams to employ a shift against him. McCovey was called "the scariest hitter in baseball" by pitcher Bob Gibson, seconded by similarly feared slugger Reggie Jackson. McCovey hit 521 home runs, 231 of them in Candlestick 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.
Willie Lee McCovey was born on January 10, 1938, in Mobile, Alabama, the seventh child of ten born to Frank McCovey, a railroad worker, and Esther. He began working part time at the age of 12 and dropped out of high school in order to work full time.
Despite being passed on by scout Ed Scott, who signed Hank Aaron for the Negro American League Indianapolis Clowns, McCovey was invited to a New York Giants tryout camp in Melbourne, Florida, while he was living and working in Los Angeles. The invitation came from Giants scout and former Negro league owner Alex Pompez.
In 1955 McCovey made his professional debut. The Sandersville Giants of the Georgia State League in Sandersville, Georgia had McCovey on their roster, with McCovey having signed a contract for $175.00 per month. His signing bonus was a mere $500. McCovey was 17 years old, 6'2", 165 pounds, and proceeded to hit .305 with 19 home runs, scoring 113 runs in 107 games.
On his way to the Major Leagues, McCovey played for a San Francisco Giants' farm club in Dallas, Texas that was part of the Class AA Texas League. He did not participate when his team played in Shreveport, Louisiana, due to segregation in that city. He later played for the Pacific Coast League Phoenix Giants just prior to being called up by the San Francisco Giants.
San Francisco Giants (1959–1973)
In his Major League debut on July 30, 1959, McCovey went four-for-four against Hall-of-Famer Robin Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies with two singles and two triples. McCovey found major league pitchers simpler to hit than minor leaguers because the major leaguers had better control of their pitches. In 52 major league games, he had a .354 batting average and 13 home runs. He was named the National League's (NL) Rookie of the Year. He won the NL 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.
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.
McCovey was not the only first baseman on the Giants. First base was also the natural position of Orlando 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 manager Alvin Dark declared McCovey his first baseman for 1961, putting Cepeda in right field to begin the year. Dark also assigned Willie Mays as McCovey's roommate.
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." 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. Thus, McCovey played only 91 games, but he still hit 20 home runs. He helped the Giants to the World Series against the New York Yankees, the only World Series appearance of his career. He hit a home run against Ralph Terry in Game 2, which the Giants won 2–0. In the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7, with two outs and the Giants trailing 1–0, Mays was on second base and Matty Alou was on third base. Any base hit would likely have won the championship for the Giants. McCovey hit a hard line drive that was snared by the Yankees' second baseman Bobby Richardson, ending the series with a Yankees win.
The moment was immortalized in two Peanuts comic strips by Charles M. Schulz. The first ran on December 22, 1962, with Charlie Brown sitting silently alongside Linus 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 even two feet higher?" On the occasion of his Hall of Fame election 24 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.
McCovey spent many years at the heart of the Giants' batting order, along with fellow Hall-of-Fame member Willie Mays. His best year statistically was 1969, when he hit 45 home runs, had 126 RBI and batted .320 to become the National League MVP. He was also named the Most Valuable Player of the 1969 All-Star Game after hitting two home runs to lead the National League team to a 9–3 victory over the American League. 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 and Hank Aaron tied for the NL lead with 44 home runs.
In the early years of Candlestick 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.
Injuries limited McCovey to 105 games in 1971, but he reached the playoffs for the first time in nine years as the Giants won the NL West. He was afflicted by injuries again in 1972, as he broke his arm early in the year in a collision at first base.
He was traded along with Bernie Williams from the Giants to the San Diego Padres for Mike Caldwell on October 25, 1973. Troubled with arthritic knees for two seasons, the 35‐year‐old McCovey was critical of manager Charlie Fox for diminishing his starting first baseman role in favor of Gary Thomasson. The Giants had been trading their higher-priced players and gave McCovey input into his destination. McCovey played in 128 games in 1974 and 122 games in 1975. He hit 22 home runs in 1974 and 23 in 1975.
In 1976, McCovey struggled, and lost the starting first base job to Mike Ivie. He batted .203 with seven home runs in 71 games.