Willie McCovey

First Baseman · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1959-1980)

Willie McCovey was a first baseman who played in Major League Baseball from 1959 to 1980 for the San Francisco Giants, the San Diego Padres, and the Athletics, a span of 22 seasons. In 2,588 career games, he hit .270 with 2,211 hits, 521 home runs, and 1,555 RBI. Willie McCovey was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986 and was a 6-time All-Star, an MVP, a Rookie of the Year, and an All-Star Game MVP. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 47,331.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

⭐ Hall of Fame 1986
AVG .270
HR 521
RBI 1,555
H 2,211
OPS .889
PIV 47,331
Position
First Baseman
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
6'4" / 198 lb
Born
1/10/1938 in Mobile, AL, USA
Died
10/31/2018 in Palo Alto, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1959-07-30
Last Game
1980-07-06
Hall of Fame
Inducted 1986 (BBWAA)
Awards
6× All-Star · MVP · Rookie of the Year · All-Star Game MVP

Full name: Willie Lee McCovey

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Career Batting Statistics

Willie McCovey — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
2,588 8,197 1,229 2,211 353 46 521 1,555 26 1,345 1,550 .270 .374 .515 .889 47,331

Career AVG .270 vs. league average .254 across their career seasons — +6.3% above league average.

Career OBP .374 vs. league average .320 across their career seasons — +17.0% above league average.

Career SLG .515 vs. league average .377 across their career seasons — +36.6% above league average.

Career OPS .889 vs. league average .697 across their career seasons — +27.6% above league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Willie McCovey Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1959 SFN NL 52 192 32 68 9 5 13 38 2 22 35 .354 .256 (+38%) .323 (+33%) .392 (+67%) .715 (+52%) 1726.3
1960 SFN NL 101 260 37 62 15 3 13 51 1 45 53 .238 .255 (-7%) .323 (+8%) .387 (+21%) .711 (+15%) 761.6
1961 SFN NL 106 328 59 89 12 3 18 50 1 37 60 .271 .258 (+5%) .328 (+7%) .399 (+23%) .727 (+16%) 966.7
1962 SFN NL 91 229 41 67 6 1 20 54 3 29 35 .293 .257 (+14%) .326 (+13%) .393 (+50%) .719 (+33%) 1367.8
1963 SFN NL 152 564 103 158 19 5 44 102 1 50 119 .280 .246 (+14%) .308 (+13%) .371 (+52%) .680 (+34%) 3659.1
1964 SFN NL 130 364 55 80 14 1 18 54 2 61 73 .220 .250 (-12%) .312 (+8%) .377 (+9%) .690 (+8%) 730.9
1965 SFN NL 160 540 93 149 17 4 39 92 0 88 118 .276 .245 (+12%) .310 (+23%) .371 (+45%) .682 (+35%) 3915.5
1966 SFN NL 150 502 85 148 26 6 36 96 2 76 100 .295 .248 (+19%) .309 (+26%) .376 (+56%) .685 (+42%) 4253.0
1967 SFN NL 135 456 73 126 17 4 31 91 3 71 110 .276 .242 (+14%) .306 (+23%) .357 (+50%) .663 (+38%) 3305.7
1968 SFN NL 148 523 81 153 16 4 36 105 4 72 71 .293 .236 (+24%) .298 (+27%) .340 (+60%) .638 (+44%) 4302.6
1969 SFN NL 149 491 101 157 26 2 45 126 0 121 66 .320 .248 (+29%) .320 (+41%) .369 (+78%) .689 (+61%) 6344.7
1970 SFN NL 152 495 98 143 39 2 39 126 0 137 75 .289 .253 (+14%) .325 (+36%) .385 (+59%) .711 (+48%) 5448.8
1971 SFN NL 105 329 45 91 13 0 18 70 0 64 57 .277 .249 (+11%) .316 (+25%) .365 (+31%) .682 (+28%) 1929.7
1972 SFN NL 81 263 30 56 8 0 14 35 0 38 45 .213 .243 (-13%) .310 (+2%) .353 (+14%) .664 (+8%) 415.3
1973 SFN NL 130 383 52 102 14 3 29 75 1 105 78 .266 .256 (+4%) .325 (+29%) .378 (+44%) .703 (+37%) 3183.9
1974 SDN NL 128 344 53 87 19 1 22 63 1 96 76 .253 .256 (-2%) .324 (+28%) .369 (+37%) .693 (+33%) 2607.2
1975 SDN NL 122 413 43 104 17 0 23 68 1 57 80 .252 .257 (-2%) .327 (+5%) .374 (+23%) .701 (+15%) 1211.7
1976 SDN NL 71 202 20 41 9 0 7 36 0 21 39 .203 .255 (-21%) .320 (-12%) .360 (-3%) .681 (-7%) -221.1
1976 OAK AL 11 24 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 .208 — — — — -221.1
1977 SFN NL 141 478 54 134 21 0 28 86 3 67 106 .280 .264 (+6%) .329 (+11%) .401 (+25%) .730 (+19%) 1910.1
1978 SFN NL 108 351 32 80 19 2 12 64 1 36 57 .228 .257 (-12%) .323 (-8%) .378 (+5%) .702 (-1%) -111.0
1979 SFN NL 117 353 34 88 9 0 15 57 0 36 70 .249 .265 (-6%) .329 (-4%) .397 (+1%) .727 (-1%) -43.2
1980 SFN NL 48 113 8 23 8 0 1 16 0 13 23 .204 .264 (-23%) .326 (-13%) .387 (-22%) .714 (-18%) -334.0
Career · 23 seasons 2,588 8,197 1,229 2,211 353 46 521 1,555 26 1,345 1,550 .270 — — — — 47,110

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Willie McCovey — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
8 29 4 9 0 1 3 7 5 5 .310

Playoff Batting by Year

Willie McCovey — 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 .429
1962 WS SFN 4 15 2 3 0 1 1 1 1 3 .200

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (2586 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Willie McCovey — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home126239076091057264774.271
Away132442886201153257781.269

Last 10 Games — Batting

Willie McCovey — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1980-07-06 SFGLADW 000000100
1980-07-05 SFGLADL 000000010
1980-07-03 SFGCINW 401000101
1980-07-02 SFGCINL 100000000
1980-06-29 SFGLADW 101100100
1980-06-28 SFGLADW 000000010
1980-06-25 SFGSDPL 100000000
1980-06-17 SFGWSNL 100000000
1980-06-10 SFGPHIL 100000000
1980-06-06 SFGHOUL 300000001

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Willie McCovey — 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

Willie McCovey — 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 Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Willie McCovey Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
First Base 2045
Left Field 256
Right Field 20
Designated Hitter 9

Awards & Honors

Willie McCovey — 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

Willie McCovey — 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

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Willie McCovey (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Eddie Mathews HOF
    .271 avg, 512 HR
  2. 79
    Harmon Killebrew HOF
    .256 avg, 573 HR
  3. 76
    Fred McGriff HOF
    .284 avg, 493 HR
  4. 69
    Mike Schmidt HOF
    .267 avg, 548 HR
  5. 57
    Jason Giambi
    .277 avg, 440 HR
  6. 53
    Carlos Delgado
    .280 avg, 473 HR

Compare Willie McCovey

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against McCovey's closest peers by position and era.

vs Ted Williams
vs Stan Musial
vs Lou Gehrig
vs Hank Aaron
vs Gaylord Perry
vs Willie Mays

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

See Willie McCovey in Another Era

What would McCovey's 1969 season look like in a different era's run environment? Try the cross-era translation with a live slider.

Translate Willie McCovey's peak season across eras →

Willie McCovey: the record in brief

According to the bio, Willie McCovey debuted on July 30, 1959 and played a final game on July 6, 1980. Club by club, the record runs the San Francisco Giants (1959 to 1980), the San Diego Padres (1974 through 1976), and the Oakland Athletics (1976). McCovey, born on January 10, 1938, in Mobile, AL, USA, is listed as a first baseman and batted and threw left-handed. The bio gives 6-foot-4 and 198 pounds. McCovey died on October 31, 2018, in Palo Alto, CA, USA. McCovey's full given name, per the bio, is Willie Lee McCovey.

The batting record for McCovey: 2,588 games, 2,211 hits in 8,197 at bats, and a .270 average; the totals also include 521 homers, 1,555 runs batted in, and 26 stolen bases. McCovey got on base at a .374 rate and slugged .515 (.889 OPS). McCovey's .270 average ran 6.3% above the .254 that the league posted over the same seasons. By OPS the gap is 27.6% above league average (.889 against .697).

Frequently Asked Questions about Willie McCovey

What years did Willie McCovey play?
Willie McCovey played in Major League Baseball from 1959 to 1980.
Was Willie McCovey a pitcher?
No. Willie McCovey was a position player (First Baseman).
How many home runs did Willie McCovey hit?
Willie McCovey hit 521 career home runs with 2,211 hits.
Is Willie McCovey in the Hall of Fame?
Yes. Willie McCovey was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986.
What teams did Willie McCovey play for?
Willie McCovey played for 3 teams: the San Francisco Giants (1959–1973, 1977–1980), the San Diego Padres (1974–1976), and the Oakland Athletics (1976).
How many MVP awards did Willie McCovey win?
Willie McCovey won 1 MVP award, in 1969.
What awards did Willie McCovey win?
Willie McCovey won the MVP award (1969) and the Rookie of the Year award (1959). He was selected to 6 All-Star Games.
What were Willie McCovey's career stats?
In 2,588 games, Willie McCovey had 2,211 hits, 521 home runs, 1,555 RBI, 1,229 runs, and 26 stolen bases, with a .270 batting average.
What position did Willie McCovey play?
Willie McCovey played primarily as a first baseman, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Willie McCovey and how much did he weigh?
Willie McCovey was listed at 6 feet 4 inches and 198 pounds.
How many home runs did Willie McCovey hit each season?
Willie McCovey's home runs by season: 13 in 1959, 13 in 1960, 18 in 1961, 20 in 1962, 44 in 1963, 18 in 1964, 39 in 1965, 36 in 1966, 31 in 1967, 36 in 1968, 45 in 1969, 39 in 1970, 18 in 1971, 14 in 1972, 29 in 1973, 22 in 1974, 23 in 1975, 7 in 1976, 28 in 1977, 12 in 1978, 15 in 1979, and 1 in 1980. His most in one season was 45, in 1969.
What was Willie McCovey's career batting average?
Willie McCovey batted .270 over his career, with 2,211 hits in 8,197 at bats.
How many RBI did Willie McCovey have?
Willie McCovey drove in 1,555 runs in his career.
How many All-Star Games did Willie McCovey make?
Willie McCovey was selected to 6 All-Star Games.