Willie McCovey: Giants legend dead at 80

[nycbos]

Source: San Fransisco Chronicle

Willie McCovey, the Hall of Fame first baseman who spent 19 of his 22 major-league seasons with the Giants and became one of the most beloved players in franchise history, has died at the age of 80.

McCovey died at Stanford Hospital Wednesday afternoon of what the team called “a battle with ongoing health issues.” He had been in a wheel chair for many years and had a serious infection four years ago that nearly took his life. He recently developed another infection and was hospitalized late last week.

During the Giants’ final home game, McCovey was rushed to the hospital but returned home shortly therafter.

Read more: https://www.sfchronicle.com/giants/article/Willie-McCovey-Giants-legend-dead-at-80-13352886.php

[Bradshaw3]

1. RIP Stretch

[meow2u3]

2. RIP Willie McCovey

[bmbmd]

3. I saw him hit a home run

Against the Cards at Candlestick when I was a boy.

[George II]

6. My brother and I saw him and Willie Mays play at the POLO GROUNDS....

....(note: they were the visiting players) when they visited New York to play the fledgling NY Mets.

He was one of the players who Les Keiter, the Giants' radio announcer, said gave opponents "the Willies" - the middle of the Giants' lineup was Willie Kirkland, Willie McCovey, and Willie Mays.

He was a natural home run hitter with 521. They loved each other, but McCovey was overshadowed by Willie Mays.

[snort]

15. Was that '69?

Cuz I was there.

[bmbmd]

19. Ha no.

Maybe ‘63?

[montana_hazeleyes]

4. Willie McCovey.....

My favorite Giants player of all time. Oh Willie, we all love you so much. He was a great, great, player and an equally great man.

The fans loved him and he loved us too. Oh dear. Willie Mac #44

[Grassy Knoll]

5. Say Hey Willie RIP

[Botany]

7. Juan Marichal, Willie Mays, and McCovey

All on the same team.

[BHDem53]

8. How many managers would love to have

McCovey, Mays, Marichal and Cepeda on their roster?

[rurallib]

9. They had some awesome lineups

and had to battle some great Dodger and Cardinal teams.

Mays and McCovey - saw them in Wrigley when I was quite young - maybe 12 or 13.

ETA - didn't they also have the Alou brothers around that time?

[PufPuf23]

12. RIP Willie McCovey

Thank you for my childhood baseball dreams and a life time as a devote Giants fan.

The mid 60s Giants had Mays, McCovey, Marichal, three Alous, Perry, Cy Yong winning McCormick and other fine players. Duke Snider and Warren Spahn played their last games, far past prime, with the 60s Giants. Never have quite come to grasp with how the best ball team ever never won a World Series. Greatest sporting event I ever attended was the first game of the 1962 playoffs against the Dodgers. My mother and I went on a rooters bus that assembled and returned to the parking lot of San Ramon High in Danville. Several inches in gam 7 and a McCovey hit would have won the 1962 WS for the Giants. alas.

[BHDem53]

13. I looked up the '65 roster

and not only the Alou brothers but Gaylord Perry was on it too. Loaded!

[Brother Buzz]

16. Felipe, Jesus and Matty - All three played the outfield together a couple of times in 1963

The Three Alou Brothers Make History: All Three In The Same Outfield!



The three Alou brothers: Felipe, Matty , and Jesus, all played together in the same outfield for the Giants. Three brothers in the same outfield had never happened before. In the game, played on Septembe 15, 1963 at Forbes Field, the Giants defeated the Pirates 13-5 in front on 18,916 fans. The game featured Hall-of Famers Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, and Willie McCovery for the Giants; and Roberto Clemente and Bill Mazerowski for the Pirates.

The three Alous played together in eight games in 1963. Felipe, then 28, was a regular outfielder for the Giants; Matty, 24, was a defensive replacement and pinch hitter who started only six games; and Jesus, 21, was a September call-up. They played in the same outfield for a few innings in three games in September. In spite of some lingering baseball mythology, they never all started a game together.

<more>

https://www.baseballhistorycomesalive.com/the-three-alou-brothers-make-history-all-three-in-the-same-outfield/

[Harker]

20. Don't forget the fourth Alou brother...

Boog.

[Brother Buzz]

21. Boog Alou could never hit Hayden Siddhartha "Sidd" Finch's blistering 168 miles per hour fastball...

so when he got traded to the Orioles, he changed his last name to Powell to save family honor.



And as Yogi Berra used to say, "It's déjà vu all over again." Am I right? (Oh, George Plimpton was a distant cousin of mine...but I never met him)

[Harker]

22. Ah, there were Giants in those days.

Lions and Tigers and Berras.

Thanks for the plimptonian memories, Brother Buzz!

[rurallib]

10. Just wanted to add that McCovey was perhaps one of the best fielding first basemen ever

not sure if that was where he got the nickname "Stretch" but if he could reach it he would get it.

[Brother Buzz]

17. 6'4" Stretch earned his nickname honestly

But he also had a mean stick that commanded total respected.

[zonkers]

11. This one hurts. My era.

[Power 2 the People]

14. RIP Stretch

The ball came off of his bat like a laser beam.

[DeminPennswoods]

18. Saw him hit 2 HRs

at Forbes Field in the same game accounting for both SF runs in a 2-1 over Pittsburgh. The first homerun went far up in RF bleachers, the second homerun cleared the RF bleachers roof, a rare feat because of the height of the stands.