Willie McCovey

[canjond]

Just saw the news that McCovey passed away. Sadly, another great one is gone. RIP.

[Kenny Cole]

My little brother's favorite baseball player ever. I hate that. RIP Stretch.

[pwang100]

I hadnt heard. RIP

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[clydepepper]

I always enjoyed seeing him hit.

RIP Wille!


.

[riggs336]

I remember when he came up in 1959 and won ROY only playing about a third of a season. Great hitter.

[Steve D]

Some of my first memories are of watching him when he was with the Padres from 1974-1976. He, Dave Winfield and Randy Jones, are my three favorite Padres of all-time. I still remember getting his autograph as he came off an elevator from the clubhouse at SD Stadium back in 1974, and I still have the ball he signed.

Rest in Peace Willie.

Steve

[tjb1952tjb]

He had such a distinctive, sweeping, powerful left handed swing. He was a thrill to watch....he and Willie Mays, quite the duo!! Glad his impressive bronze statue and McCovey Cove at AT&T Park will cement his legacy for years to come. RIP Willie.

“When he belts a home run,” longtime Dodgers manager Walter Alston said, “he does it with such authority, it seems like an act of God. You can’t cry about it.”

[deadballfreaK]

Sigh. I was never a Giants fan or was McCovey a special favorite, but he was a fearsome hitter and a class individual. 1st and 2nd basemen were actually in terror when he came to bat. It's sad getting old and watching the old heroes fade away.

[barrysloate]

As a lifetime Giants fan, McCovey was just about my favorite player. Know he had been dealing with health problems for a long time. Sad day.

[D.P.Johnson]

RIP Willie......

[Vintageclout]

Bobby Richardson always said that McCovey’s line drive to end the 1962 World Series was by far the hardest hit ball he ever caught. Only a handful of hitters could hit a ball as hard as McCovey. I’ll never forget in the early 70’s he hit a gigantic home run off of Tom Seaver into the right field THIRD DECK at Shea Stadium. Never saw another left handed hitter accomplish that (Agee hit one into the left field third deck). One of the most fearsome hitters who ever stepped into a batters box. RIP Stretch.

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by Vintageclout

Bobby Richardson always said that McCovey’s line drive to end the 1962 World Series was by far the hardest hit ball he ever caught. Only a handful of hitters could hit a ball as hard as McCovey. I’ll never forget in the early 70’s he hit a gigantic home run off of Tom Seaver into the right field THIRD DECK at Shea Stadium. Never saw another left handed hitter accomplish that (Agee hit one into the left field third deck). One of the most fearsome hitters who ever stepped into a batters box. RIP Stretch.

Just read a great quote in his obit. When he was asked late in life what he would like to best be remembered for, he responded: "I would like to be remembered as the guy who hit the line drive over Bobby Richardson's head."

[Kawika]

I was a nine year old Giants fan and I remember the buzz about the rookie. He hit two triples off Robin Roberts in his first MLB game. Mays, McCovey and Cepeda presented a tough top-of-the-order for many years. Seemed like he always had a smile on his face. You had to love the guy. A sad day for all of us.



Another Giants luminary, at least in my book, passed away recently. Hank Greenwald could call a baseball game. Had a lot of knowledge and an affable style, and knew when to be quiet (unlike the motormouths we do not suffer gladly today). The Giants typically played day games on Wednesday back in the '80's when I lived in the Bay Area. What a treat it was to listen to the ball game while I toiled away drawing survey maps. Made work fun. Those days are a nice memory for me. RIP

[Fred]

Stretch was always good about signing for kids. He's the type of player that made baseball and the organization he played for look good. Total class act.

RIP Stretch.

[ALR-bishop]

From the Topps Rookie Banquet program, October 29, 1959 at the Hotel Manhattan. It was the first such Topps banquet and resulted in the rookie trophy awards for those who would appear in the 1960 set

[Exhibitman]

RIP Willie

[Stampsfan]

As a kid I was fortunate enough to see McCovey and Mays with the Giants, in the early years of the Expos. He was a beast. proud to have a signed ball in my display in the basement.

[triwak]

R.i.p.

[JollyElm]

mccoveycove.jpg

[tonyo]

love the statue!

[tonyo]

basic topps run - I guess Willie was absent on picture day in 63

[talkinbaseball]

When i was in sixth grade, living on the east coast, i was a huge Giants fan. When the Mets played the Giants at Candlestick, my mom would let me listen to the whole game on the radio when i reported the score in the morning, in the sixth grade class, my teacher would give me extra credit, that was probably 1968. John

[barrysloate]

As someone who loves the numbers connected with baseball, among my favorite is McCovey and Aaron tying for the home run title in 1963 with 44 each, and they both wore #44. You can't make that stuff up.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Nice Topps run but it continued through 1980, plus an 81 Fleer, no?

[tonyo]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Nice Topps run but it continued through 1980, plus an 81 Fleer, no?

Hi Peter, true, but I stopped scanning my basic topps/bowman hofer collection at 1979, so since I didn't have scans of 80T and 81 Fleer handy and despite the kind words from the McCovey Padres fan in this thread ( which made me appreciate Willie's years with the Padres whereas I hadn't before) decided to end my tribute with the last topps set issued in series which coincided with the year prior to the 74 McCovey ..... not the most beauteous IMO, and the first Padres card.... which would've broken the Giants theme in my jpg

If no one else picks up my slack, Ill post the remaining base cards next week, since you accurately called me out, and in honor of Willie!

RIP Willie McCovey !

[Peter_Spaeth]

As a kid I was at the 69 All Star game when he went deep twice. Of course the big thrill for us was Frank Howard hit one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsq_3ZiVLl8

Big week, the moon landing was just a couple of days before.