Rant #2,252: Big Man In Town

Today, just a few days after the World Series, the baseball world mourns the passing of Willie McCovey, one of the most feared hitters of his generation, who passed away yesterday after fighting numerous ailments for years.

The Hall of Famer was 80 years old.

You can look up his statistics, including his more than 500 home runs, pretty easily, so I am not going to get into that too deeply.

But McCovey was a major cog in several San Francisco Giants teams during the 1960s, although he was often overshadowed by another Willie in the lineup--one of the greatest players of all time, Willie Mays.

He basically was the Giants' Lou Gehrig and Mays was the Giants' Babe Ruth, and yes, you can mention Mays and McCovey in the same breath as the New York Yankees' stars.

They were that good.

McCovey looked like a ballplayer--his nickname was "Stretch"--and his size and stature prefigured the current makeup of baseball players. In an era when most ballplayers might have straddled the 6-foot mark at best, McCovey was 6 feet, four inches tall and had long arms, so he was able to hit pitches that most other players could not handle.

The first baseman/outfielder won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1959, made six All-Star teams, won the MVP Award in 1969. He and Mays played together in San Francisco for 13 seasons. He later played for the Oakland Athletics and the San Diego Padres during his 19-year career.

Although he was slowed in recent years by a variety of illnesses, and could no longer walk on his own, McCovey remained a fixture at the ballpark, attending numerous games in a private suite.

Personally, when I think about this guy, I have to not only think about Willie Mays, but also Willie Stargell.

These were baseball's "three Willies" during the 1960s, and each was a feared batter, among the best hitters and ballplayers of their respective generation, and perhaps of all time.

When McCovey came up to bat, his sheer size would transfix you, and he seemed to hit every ball hard. And he played for the "Giants" yet. Perfect!

Although he played in the shadow of Mays, he was still a Giant among baseball players during the 1960s.

In fact, probably most casual baseball fans remember him for something he did not do. With runners on second and third in what became the deciding game of the 1962 World Series, McCovey lined out hard to Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson to end the game and the Series.

He is so revered in San Francisco that a team award is named after him. The "Willie Mc" award goes to the Giants player who most replicates McCovey on and off the field, and McCovey regularly presented this award himself.

And let's not forget "McCovey Cove," the water area of the Giants' ballpark, where boaters camps out waiting for a home run to come their way.

To honor his life, San Francisco City Hall will be lit up in orange today, the Giants' color.

Quite a fitting tribute, I would say.