Willie McCovey
⭐ Hall of Fame 1986
Born: 1/10/1938 in Mobile, AL, USA
Died: 10/31/2018 in Palo Alto, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1959-07-30 | Final Game: 1980-07-06
Bats: L | Throws: L | Height: 6'4" | Weight: 198 lbs
Full name: Willie Lee McCovey
Biography
Willie McCovey was a legendary position player in Major League Baseball, whose career spanned from 1959 to 1980. Born in 1938, McCovey made a significant impact on the game during his tenure, becoming known for his powerful hitting and formidable presence at the plate. He played in a total of 2,588 games and amassed 2,211 hits, demonstrating his consistent ability to reach base. With 521 home runs and 1,555 RBIs, he established himself as one of the premier power hitters of his era, characterized by a strong left-handed swing that terrorized pitchers. His career batting average of .270 further underscored his offensive prowess, complemented by 26 stolen bases that showcased his surprising speed for a player of his stature.
Throughout his career, McCovey earned numerous accolades, including six selections to the All-Star Game and the prestigious All-Star Game MVP award. He was recognized early in his career as the Rookie of the Year and the TSN Rookie of the Year, marking him as a rising star in the league. His contributions to the game were immortalized when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986. McCovey's legacy endures not only through his impressive statistics but also as a symbol of excellence in baseball during the late 20th century, enriching the sport with his talent and passion.
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2588 | 8197 | 1229 | 2211 | 353 | 46 | 521 | 1555 | 26 | 1345 | 1550 | 0.270 | 0.374 | 0.515 | 0.889 | 47241.0 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | SFG | NL | 52 | 192 | 32 | 68 | 9 | 5 | 13 | 38 | 2 | 22 | 35 | 0.354 | 1726.3 |
| 1960 | SFG | NL | 101 | 260 | 37 | 62 | 15 | 3 | 13 | 51 | 1 | 45 | 53 | 0.238 | 761.6 |
| 1961 | SFG | NL | 106 | 328 | 59 | 89 | 12 | 3 | 18 | 50 | 1 | 37 | 60 | 0.271 | 966.7 |
| 1962 | SFG | NL | 91 | 229 | 41 | 67 | 6 | 1 | 20 | 54 | 3 | 29 | 35 | 0.293 | 1367.8 |
| 1963 | SFG | NL | 152 | 564 | 103 | 158 | 19 | 5 | 44 | 102 | 1 | 50 | 119 | 0.280 | 3659.1 |
| 1964 | SFG | NL | 130 | 364 | 55 | 80 | 14 | 1 | 18 | 54 | 2 | 61 | 73 | 0.220 | 730.9 |
| 1965 | SFG | NL | 160 | 540 | 93 | 149 | 17 | 4 | 39 | 92 | 0 | 88 | 118 | 0.276 | 3915.5 |
| 1966 | SFG | NL | 150 | 502 | 85 | 148 | 26 | 6 | 36 | 96 | 2 | 76 | 100 | 0.295 | 4253.0 |
| 1967 | SFG | NL | 135 | 456 | 73 | 126 | 17 | 4 | 31 | 91 | 3 | 71 | 110 | 0.276 | 3305.7 |
| 1968 | SFG | NL | 148 | 523 | 81 | 153 | 16 | 4 | 36 | 105 | 4 | 72 | 71 | 0.293 | 4302.6 |
| 1969 | SFG | NL | 149 | 491 | 101 | 157 | 26 | 2 | 45 | 126 | 0 | 121 | 66 | 0.320 | 6344.7 |
| 1970 | SFG | NL | 152 | 495 | 98 | 143 | 39 | 2 | 39 | 126 | 0 | 137 | 75 | 0.289 | 5448.8 |
| 1971 | SFG | NL | 105 | 329 | 45 | 91 | 13 | 0 | 18 | 70 | 0 | 64 | 57 | 0.277 | 1929.7 |
| 1972 | SFG | NL | 81 | 263 | 30 | 56 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 35 | 0 | 38 | 45 | 0.213 | 415.3 |
| 1973 | SFG | NL | 130 | 383 | 52 | 102 | 14 | 3 | 29 | 75 | 1 | 105 | 78 | 0.266 | 3183.9 |
| 1974 | SDP | NL | 128 | 344 | 53 | 87 | 19 | 1 | 22 | 63 | 1 | 96 | 76 | 0.253 | 2607.2 |
| 1975 | SDP | NL | 122 | 413 | 43 | 104 | 17 | 0 | 23 | 68 | 1 | 57 | 80 | 0.252 | 1211.7 |
| 1976 | OAK | AL | 11 | 24 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0.208 | 0.0 |
| 1976 | SDP | NL | 71 | 202 | 20 | 41 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 36 | 0 | 21 | 39 | 0.203 | 0.0 |
| 1977 | SFG | NL | 141 | 478 | 54 | 134 | 21 | 0 | 28 | 86 | 3 | 67 | 106 | 0.280 | 1910.1 |
| 1978 | SFG | NL | 108 | 351 | 32 | 80 | 19 | 2 | 12 | 64 | 1 | 36 | 57 | 0.228 | -133.2 |
| 1979 | SFG | NL | 117 | 353 | 34 | 88 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 57 | 0 | 36 | 70 | 0.249 | -52.6 |
| 1980 | SFG | NL | 48 | 113 | 8 | 23 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 13 | 23 | 0.204 | -363.7 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 29 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 0.310 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | NLCS | SFN | 4 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0.429 |
| 1962 | WS | SFN | 4 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0.200 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1B | 2045 | 1987 | 17170 | 1222 | 233 | 1405 |
| OF | 275 | 264 | 397 | 14 | 23 | 2 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | SFN | 1B | 51 | 49 | 424 | 29 | 5 | 29 |
| 1960 | SFN | 1B | 71 | 65 | 557 | 39 | 9 | 42 |
| 1961 | SFN | 1B | 84 | 79 | 669 | 55 | 11 | 55 |
| 1962 | SFN | 1B | 17 | 11 | 105 | 7 | 1 | 12 |
| 1962 | SFN | OF | 57 | 53 | 81 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 1963 | SFN | 1B | 23 | 14 | 143 | 14 | 1 | 5 |
| 1963 | SFN | OF | 135 | 131 | 220 | 7 | 14 | 0 |
| 1964 | SFN | 1B | 26 | 21 | 177 | 14 | 7 | 19 |
| 1964 | SFN | OF | 83 | 80 | 96 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| 1965 | SFN | 1B | 156 | 150 | 1310 | 87 | 13 | 93 |
| 1966 | SFN | 1B | 145 | 139 | 1287 | 81 | 22 | 91 |
| 1967 | SFN | 1B | 127 | 123 | 1221 | 81 | 15 | 102 |
| 1968 | SFN | 1B | 146 | 146 | 1305 | 103 | 21 | 91 |
| 1969 | SFN | 1B | 148 | 148 | 1392 | 79 | 12 | 116 |
| 1970 | SFN | 1B | 146 | 146 | 1217 | 134 | 15 | 117 |
| 1971 | SFN | 1B | 95 | 95 | 828 | 63 | 15 | 80 |
| 1972 | SFN | 1B | 74 | 73 | 617 | 32 | 9 | 52 |
| 1973 | SFN | 1B | 117 | 116 | 930 | 76 | 12 | 89 |
| 1974 | SDN | 1B | 104 | 103 | 815 | 47 | 11 | 59 |
| 1975 | SDN | 1B | 115 | 115 | 979 | 73 | 15 | 94 |
| 1976 | SDN | 1B | 51 | 51 | 420 | 44 | 4 | 39 |
| 1977 | SFN | 1B | 136 | 136 | 1072 | 60 | 13 | 93 |
| 1978 | SFN | 1B | 97 | 95 | 721 | 44 | 10 | 49 |
| 1979 | SFN | 1B | 89 | 86 | 740 | 48 | 10 | 60 |
| 1980 | SFN | 1B | 27 | 26 | 241 | 12 | 2 | 18 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| First Base | 2045 |
| Left Field | 256 |
| Right Field | 20 |
| Designated Hitter | 9 |
Awards & Honors
| Year | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Player of the Week | Week of 1979-06-15 |
| 1977 | Hutch Award | |
| 1977 | Player of the Week | Week of 1977-09-09 |
| 1977 | TSN Comeback Player of the Year | |
| 1970 | TSN All-Star | 1B |
| 1969 | All-Star Game MVP | |
| 1969 | Most Valuable Player | |
| 1969 | TSN All-Star | 1B |
| 1969 | TSN Major League Player of the Year | |
| 1969 | TSN Player of the Year | |
| 1968 | TSN All-Star | 1B |
| 1965 | TSN All-Star | 1B |
| 1959 | Rookie of the Year | |
| 1959 | TSN Rookie of the Year |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 20th | 5.0 | 336 | 0 |
| 1971 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 15th | 15.0 | 336 | 0 |
| 1970 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 9th | 47.0 | 336 | 0 |
| 1969 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 1st | 265.0 | 336 | 11 |
| 1968 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 3rd | 135.0 | 280 | 0 |
| 1967 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 29th | 2.0 | 280 | 0 |
| 1966 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 17th | 12.0 | 280 | 0 |
| 1965 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 10th | 25.0 | 280 | 0 |
| 1963 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 17th | 9.0 | 280 | 0 |
| 1959 | Most Valuable Player | NL | 22th | 1.0 | 336 | 0 |
| 1959 | Rookie of the Year | NL | 1st | 24.0 | 24 | 24 |