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Willie Lee McCovey
San Francisco Giants
First Base
Born: January 10, 1938, Mobile, AL
Signed: Signed by the New York Giants as an amateur free agent, March 12, 1955
Major League Teams: San Francisco Giants 1959-1973; San Diego Padres 1974-1976; Oakland Athletics 1976; San Francisco Giants 1977-1980
World Series Appearances: San Francisco Giants 1962
Died: October 31, 2018, Palo Alto, CA (age 80)
Hall of Fame Induction: 1986
Willie McCovey enjoyed a 22-year Hall of Fame career that saw him reach the All-Star Game six times and earn N.L. MVP honors in 1969. He appeared in only 52 games his rookie season in 1959, but his .354 average along with 13 home runs were enough to make him the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year. McCovey, nicknamed "Stretch," led the league in home runs in 1963, 1968 and 1969. He also led the league in RBIs in those latter two years, with his 1969 season leading to his MVP award with a .320 average, 45 home runs and 126 RBIs. He had been previously named the MVP of the 1969 All-Star Game after hitting two home runs in the contest. McCovey played in one World Series, with the Giants losing in 1962 to the Yankees.
McCovey had 521 career home runs when he retired, placing him seventh on the all-time list at the time. He accumulated a lifetime batting average of .270 with 1,555 RBIs. McCovey hit his final home run on May 3, 1980, giving him the distinction, along with Ted Williams (#650), Rickey Henderson and Omar Vizquel, of having homered in four different decades. His 18 grand slams are the most ever in the National League.
The Giants retired his #44 in 1980, and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986, his first year of eligibility. When the Giants moved into their new ballpark in 2000 (now called Oracle Park), the San Francisco Bay inlet beyond the right field fence was named McCovey Cove.
Died: October 31, 2018, Palo Alto, CA (age 80)
Hall of Fame Induction: 1986
Willie McCovey enjoyed a 22-year Hall of Fame career that saw him reach the All-Star Game six times and earn N.L. MVP honors in 1969. He appeared in only 52 games his rookie season in 1959, but his .354 average along with 13 home runs were enough to make him the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year. McCovey, nicknamed "Stretch," led the league in home runs in 1963, 1968 and 1969. He also led the league in RBIs in those latter two years, with his 1969 season leading to his MVP award with a .320 average, 45 home runs and 126 RBIs. He had been previously named the MVP of the 1969 All-Star Game after hitting two home runs in the contest. McCovey played in one World Series, with the Giants losing in 1962 to the Yankees.
McCovey had 521 career home runs when he retired, placing him seventh on the all-time list at the time. He accumulated a lifetime batting average of .270 with 1,555 RBIs. McCovey hit his final home run on May 3, 1980, giving him the distinction, along with Ted Williams (#650), Rickey Henderson and Omar Vizquel, of having homered in four different decades. His 18 grand slams are the most ever in the National League.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
The Card / Giants Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Already a superstar, as pointed out on the back of this card, this was McCovey's career year. He batted .320 with 45 home runs and 126 - both career highs and both marks leading the league. McCovey also topped the league with a .453 OBP and a .656 slugging percentage, while setting a new major league record with 45 intentional walks. The starting first baseman for the National League All-Stars, McCovey led the way with a pair of home runs, hit off Blue Moon Odom (#195) in the third and Denny McLain (#150) in the fourth. He appeared in 149 games for the second place Giants, making 148 starts at first base.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #316
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (21): 1960-1980
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2023 Topps Archives #99
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 1,614 in the Beckett online database as of 3/29/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Building the Set / Card #273
September 23, 2023 from The Philly Show (Ed's Old Baseball Cards)
Given the massive haul of 193 cards acquired for our 1969 Topps set at the March Philly Show, I held off on adding more cards throughout the summer of 2023. We weren't even going to go to the Philly Show last September, but our oldest son's baseball tournament was rained out, and we found ourselves with a free weekend. I wrote about the show originally over at The Phillies Room.
September 23, 2023 from The Philly Show (Ed's Old Baseball Cards)
Given the massive haul of 193 cards acquired for our 1969 Topps set at the March Philly Show, I held off on adding more cards throughout the summer of 2023. We weren't even going to go to the Philly Show last September, but our oldest son's baseball tournament was rained out, and we found ourselves with a free weekend. I wrote about the show originally over at The Phillies Room.
I added just 15 cards to our set build at this show, all from the same dealer, Ed's Old Baseball Cards out of the Buffalo area. Technically, the cards I bought were from Ed's associate, Gary, who explained he was along for the ride and brought a bunch of his vintage cards for sale. I picked four needed star cards, including this McCovey card. Gary gave us a nice discount on the purchase, so we went back after securing a few autographs and I picked 11 more commons and semi-stars from his modest selection of 1960s Topps cards for sale. Posting for these 15 cards should take me a lot less longer than what it took to get through the box of cards brought home from the March 2023 Philly Show.
The photo used for the card is likely from 1967, and it was taken at the same time as the photo used for McCovey's 1968 Topps card. This is one of five cards he appears on in the set, including the RBI Leaders (#4) and Home Run Leaders (#6) cards, an All-Star card (#416) and a combo card (#572) with fellow future Hall of Famer Juan Marichal (#370). Given this was his MVP year, the card has been reprinted by Topps a few times, first re-appearing on the MVP subset in the 1975 Topps set.
This is one of 23 cards available in the set's fifth series available as either "yellow letter" or "white letter" variations, with the yellow letter variations being more prevalent. This is the more prevalent yellow letter variation with McCovey's last name printed in yellow.
Accuracy Index: McCovey's card scores a +5.
Inserts: McCovey is included in the 35 card Topps Deckle Edge insert set and is one of 48 decals in the Topps Decals insert set. He's one of 27 players to appear in both insert sets.
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1969 Season
Already a superstar, as pointed out on the back of this card, this was McCovey's career year. He batted .320 with 45 home runs and 126 - both career highs and both marks leading the league. McCovey also topped the league with a .453 OBP and a .656 slugging percentage, while setting a new major league record with 45 intentional walks. The starting first baseman for the National League All-Stars, McCovey led the way with a pair of home runs, hit off Blue Moon Odom (#195) in the third and Denny McLain (#150) in the fourth. He appeared in 149 games for the second place Giants, making 148 starts at first base.
In the postseason MVP voting, McCovey tied Tom Seaver (#480) with 11 first place votes but had more higher ranked votes overall.
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First Mainstream Card: 1960 Topps #316
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (21): 1960-1980
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2023 Topps Archives #99
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 1,614 in the Beckett online database as of 3/29/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
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