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Willie Lee McCovey (born January 10, 1938 in Mobile, Alabama), nicknamed "Big Mac" and "Stretch", is a former slugger and first baseman who played Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics between 1959 and 1980.

In his first ever Major League Baseball Game on July 30, 1959, he went 4-for-4 against Hall Of Famer Robin Roberts en route to his .354 batting average that year. Three years later, his Giants were in the World Series against the New York Yankees. In Game 7 with 2 outs and Willie Mays on second and Matty Alou on third with the Giants trailing 1-0, McCovey slapped a hard liner that was caught by the Yankees' Bobby Richardson, it would turn out to be the closet McCovey would get from being a world champion.

Willie's best year was 1969 when he hit 45 Home Runs, 126 RBIs and a .320 batting average to become the NL MVP.

In 1974, McCovey was traded to the San Diego Padres and without him the Giants and their fans disappeared. But after 3 miserable years as a Padre, he returned to the Giants. That year, he beacme the first player to hit 2 home runs in 1 inning,it occured during a June 27 game against the Cincinnati Reds. At age 39, he hit 28 home runs and 86 Runs Batted In and was named the Major League Baseball Comeback Player Of The Year.

On June 30, 1978, McCovey hit his 500th home run at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium, and 2 years later on May 3, McCovey hit his 521st and last home run at San Francisco's Candlestick Park.

In his 22-year career (19 with the Giants), McCovey batted .270, with 521 home runs and 1555 RBI, 1229 runs scored, 2211 hits, 353 doubles, 46 triples, a .374 on base percentage and a .515 slugging average.

McCovey was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986, his first year of eligibility. In 1999, he ranked Number 56 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. McCovey Cove behind the outfield wall of the Giants' SBC Park was named after him. The Giants retired his uniform number 44, which he wore in honor of Hank Aaron, a fellow Mobile, Alabama native.

In September 2003, McCovey and a business partner opened McCovey's Restaurant, a baseball-themed sports bar and restaurant, located in Walnut Creek, California.

Highlights

• National League Rookie of the Year (1959)
• NL MVP Award (1969)
• 6-time All-Star (1963, 1966, 1968-71)
• MVP of All-Star Game (1969)
• 3-times led NL in home runs (1963, 1968-69)
• 2-times led NL in RBI (1968-69)
• 3-times led NL in slugging average (1968-70)
• 3-times led NL in OPS (1968-70)
• 18 grand slams in his career (ranking third to Lou Gehrig's 23 and Eddie Murray's 19)

See also

• MLB players who have hit 30 or more home runs before the All-Star break

External links

• Baseball Hall of Fame
• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
• Baseball Library
• McCovey's Restaurant
• Willie McCovey stereo(!) sculpture picture in the Virtual Tour around SBC Park. This method of stereo is called wiggling. It does not require any special equipment.

Preceded by: Orlando Cepeda

National League Rookie of the Year 1959

Succeeded by: Frank Howard

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