Another Icon, Gone

Although I'm a couple of days late, I'd be remiss if I didn't prepare a post in honor of Giants legend Willie McCovey who passed away Wednesday at the age of 80.

Over the course of a few seasons in his career, McCovey played alongside 3 other future Hall of Famers in San Francisco, those being Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda, and Willie Mays. Even so, McCovey became one of the all-time greatest power hitters, his 521 career homers placing him 20th on the all-time list tied with Ted Williams and Frank Thomas.

I feel that sometimes McCovey was overshadowed by the other major power hitters he played alongside with (Banks, Aaron, Mays, Stargell, Clemente, etc), but he was certainly able to hold his own throughout his 22-year career which saw him elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame on his very first ballot in 1986. 

To this day, he still holds the NL record for career grand slams with a grand total of 18 over his playing career which lands him at 5th all-time.

As I said before, it was extremely difficult to stand out in the National League as a hitter throughout most of the 1960's due to the strong competition and abundance of talented players. Even so, McCovey took home the 1969 NL MVP by hitting .320 with 45 home runs and 126 RBI, a sensational season to put it mildly. 

Born 4 years apart from Hank Aaron, they both grew up in Mobile, Alabama around the same time leading me to wonder if they knew each other or played baseball together growing up. I can't say I've heard anything about this topic before, but I also cannot say I've extensively looked.

Though most of his career was spent with the Giants, "Stretch" did spend a little bit of time with the San Diego Padres, ultimately leading to the production of this 1975 Topps card which has since become pretty popular and somewhat iconic among collectors. I suppose it was just the shock of seeing him in a different jersey, similar to Billy Williams being shown on the Athletics, not the Cubs, in this very same set.

In 1986, the 50th anniversary of the first Hall of Fame class, Willie McCovey, along with Bobby Doerr and Ernie Lombardi, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame when he received 81.4% of votes, the only player elected that year by the BBWAA. 27 years after making his debut and winning Rookie of the Year back in 1959, McCovey obtained the biggest honor in baseball and was enshrined in Cooperstown.

There's no way I could do this post without mentioning my all-time favorite Willie McCovey card, this beauty from 2017 Topps Stadium Club which emphasizes his #44 which was retired by the Giants in 1980, another entry on his long list of career accomplishments. Though there's certainly no shortage of fantastic photos from Stadium Club, especially 2017, there's absolutely no beating Stretch's jaw-dropping card combined with near-perfect photography.

Not only was he one of the most accomplished hitters in baseball history, but McCovey has been one of my favorite players to collect for years now. His player collection recently reached 80 cards, and I have the utmost intentions of keeping it going for as long as I collect in honor of him.

Rest in peace Willie McCovey. You will be missed.