Posted on 11/01/2018 7:38:20 AM PDT by DFG
Was Charlie Brown the batter?
The McCovey shift. Immortalized in baseball.
Ya know.....I used to sit along the first base foul line as it went into to the outfield just short of the right field stands. When McCovey would come up to bat, i would cringe, waiting for that sound, that crack from the ball meeting his bat. Ya know, I never followed the ball as it sailed out to the right field scoreboard in Shea, because I could just tell by the crack of his bat that baby ball was gone...”Home Run”!!!
HAHA That does ring a bell
Remember the “McCovey Shift” where the left fielder (I think) would move to center, with others shifting right, leaving left field empty. I think the infield did something like that too.
Agree, definitely a bad-ass dude.
Willie McCovey hit a home run at the first baseball game I ever watched in person, in August, 1960 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Giants beat the Reds 10-2.
One of the really great major leaguers. God Bless You, Willie. R.I.P.
I had the good fortune of being in spring training when Willie was a 19 year old. He was a nice humble kid.
A good friend and former teammate had a 10 year career in the majors. He was a pitcher and always said that Willie McCovey was his “toughest out.” A big, free swinger, guy that would hit a waste pitch out if he could get his bat on the ball. RIP Willie.
I too remember the ABJECT FEAR when that man came to the plate. I literally cannot think of any other player that brought that fear. (Willie Mays came across as simply too nice of a guy to instill that level of fear)
“As a diehard, NY Mets fan....I could not stand Willie McCovey....because every time he showed up at Shea Stadium he would blast the ball into the right field stands for another home run. May this great ballplayer and human being, Willie McCovey RIP for eternity in God’s paradise. We loved you Mr. McCovey!!! You were truly one of the greats in baseball!!!”
RIP, Mr. McCovey, and condolences to your family on their loss.
He was probably the scariest hitter in baseball history, other than Barry Bonds (who got the same treatment - I once watched Jack McKeon order Bonds intentionally walked with nobody on base three times in a row in a game.)
McCovey played his entire Giants career at the wretched boneyard known as Candlestick Park, which limited his HR output. I think he could have hit 700+ in a friendlier home stadium.
I saw Stretch play many, many times when he came to Wrigley Field. I can say with assurance that he was the most feared, intimidating slugger in the National League. No one hit the ball harder or farther.
Jim Ray Hart, Hal Lanier, Tito Fuentes, Ed Bailey, Jose Pagan, Harvey Kuenn, Manny Mota, Jim Davenport, Tom Haller, George Foster, Felipe, Matty and Jesus Alou.
Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Bob Bolin, Billy O’Dell, Jack Sanford and Don Larsen.
They never could quite get past the Dodgers or Cardinals (six pennants total), Pirates (two pennants), or Reds except for 1962 and they had to beat the Dodgers in a playoff just to meet the Yankees in the Series.
And the part of Frisco Bay beyond the right field wall of the Giants present day ballpark is aptly named McCovey Cove.
Back in the mid 90's a friend of mine was out in California on business. While there he took in a ball game in I think LA. and his seat was in the front row next to the foul line in left field. Moises Alou hit a ground rule double that bounced into my buddy's lap.
As it turned out, Moises' team was staying in the same hotel as my buddy so he took the ball to the main desk and ask them if they could ask Moises to autograph it when he came back to the hotel.
At about 11:00 p.m. that night, there was a knock on my buddy's door and it Moises standing there with the ball in his hand. My buddy invited him in and they sat and talked baseball over a couple of beers for the next hour and a half.......That was pretty cool
I remember having a baseball card with Wiilie McCovey and Willie Mays kneeling with their bats and the card was titled Fence Busters. Those were the days.
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