R.I.P Willie McCovey

Hall of Fame baseball great Willie McCovey died at age 80 at Stanford Hospital near Palo Alto, California on October 31st, 2018. Cause of death has not been released; but McCovey had suffered from multiple health issues in recent years.

Born in Mobile, Alabama in 1938, McCovey made his major league debut with the San Francisco Giants at age 21 in 1959. He was 4 for 4 at the plate with two triples in his first game, and two RBIs. In 52 games, McCovey hit .354 with 13 homers and 38 RBIs, with an OPS of 1.085. Despite the limited number of games, McCovey was named the National League Rookie of the Year.

McCovey had a long career, retiring in July of 1980. He played for the Giants from 1959 through 1973, when he was traded to the San Diego Padres. He played for San Diego until the end of August 1976, when he was traded back to the Bay Area, although it was Oakland in this case. McCovey returned to the Giants via free agency in 1977 and remained with the club until his retirement.

McCovey, who played mostly at first base plus some time in the outfield, hit 521 home runs in his career, leading the National League three times. He was the National League Most Valuable Player in 1969, when he hit .320 and led the league in homers (45), RBIs (126), on base percentage (.453), slugging percentage (.656), and OPS (1.108). Not surprisingly, he led the league in intentional walks with 45 as well. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986. McCovey was a frequent attendee of Giants games in retirement; McCovey Cove, the unofficial name of the part of San Francisco Bay just off the right field wall at the Giants’ AT & T Park is named for him. McCovey retired long before the ballpark opened but he would have no doubt hit many into the water if it had been around in his heyday.