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Willie McCovey Passes Away

By Steve Adams | October 31, 2018 at 7:21pm CDT

The Giants issued a heavy-hearted statement Wednesday, announcing that Hall of Famer and franchise icon Willie McCovey has passed away peacefully at the age of 80 “after losing his battle with ongoing health issues.”

“San Francisco and the entire baseball community lost a true gentleman and legend, and our collective hearts are broken,” CEO Larry Baer said in a press release announcing the loss of one of baseball’s all-time greats. “Willie was a beloved figure throughout his playing days and in retirement. He will be deeply missed by the many people he touched.  For more than six decades, he gave his heart and soul to the Giants – as one of the greatest players of all time, as a quiet leader in the clubhouse, as a mentor to the Giants who followed in his footsteps, as an inspiration to our Junior Giants, and as a fan cheering on the team from his booth. Willie’s greatest passion was his family and our thoughts and prayers are with his beloved wife, Estella, and his daughter, Allison, and her children Raven, Philip, and Marissa.”

A former National League Rookie of the Year, a National League MVP and a six-time All-Star, McCovey was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame after hitting .270/.374/.515 with 521 home runs, 353 doubles, 46 triples, 1229 runs scored and 1555 runs batted in. In addition to spending 19 seasons with the Giants, McCovey played three seasons with the Padres and also spent part of the 1976 season with the Athletics.

McCovey’s name has become synonymous not only with the San Francisco Giants — who retired his No. 44 and named right field’s “McCovey Cove” at AT&T Park in his honor — but with baseball greatness. Rest in peace, Stretch.

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51 comments
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Comments

  1. MetsYankeesRedSox

    2 years ago

    Wow….this news blows.
    Watched many games on TV with both McCovey and the Say Hey Kid when they played the Mets. RIP

    5 Like
    Reply
    • deweybelongsinthehall

      2 years ago

      RIP. Grew up an AL fan but recall many days watching the GOTW on Saturday or when the Mets played the Giants. Great classic power hitter.

      5 Like
      Reply
  2. metal guru

    2 years ago

    One of the greats RIP Stretch

    9 Like
    Reply
  3. letsplay2

    2 years ago

    He was a great one ! RIP

    5 Like
    Reply
  4. eileenyankees9

    2 years ago

    Wow, a shock.
    You were a star!

    Willie, RIP

    7 Like
    Reply
    • fox471

      2 years ago

      Dodger fan here but this is really bad news. Class guy. Great Hall of Famer. He will be missed.

      6 Like
      Reply
  5. andrew farelli

    2 years ago

    R.I.P Willie, your impact on baseball will never be forgotten.

    7 Like
    Reply
  6. tonysdog01

    2 years ago

    Willie was kind of bigger than life when he played. As a kid and Mets fan I always wanted him on the Mets. Great player.

    11 Like
    Reply
  7. bubba3b

    2 years ago

    definitely one of the Giants candidates for their ‘mount rushmore’ and one of my heroes when i started little league back in the 70’s. wore #44 because of him. rest in power, good sir.

    5 Like
    Reply
  8. sufferfortribe

    2 years ago

    I used to pretend that I was him when playing whiffle ball.

    5 Like
    Reply
  9. SoCalStuntman

    2 years ago

    A great man! A great baseball player!

    7 Like
    Reply
  10. JDGoat

    2 years ago

    Rip

    2 Like
    Reply
  11. rotorob5000

    2 years ago

    A great and underrated player, and an even more underrated person. Still remember your topps baseball cards in the 1970s. RIP willie.

    4 Like
    Reply
  12. bobbyk

    2 years ago

    One great power hitter. Saw him play at Wrigley countless times. Stretch was scary powerful. The sound of his bat making contact with the pitch was different. Pure, sweet, unmistakeable. One fine hitter and defender too. RIP big guy. You will be missed.

    6 Like
    Reply
  13. realgone2

    2 years ago

    Damn impressive career. RIP

    3 Like
    Reply
  14. realgone2

    2 years ago

    First Hardy Fox of The Residents and now Willie. Sad Day in SF

    6 Like
    Reply
  15. i hate my father

    2 years ago

    Damn, this sucks. Willie will be missed

    7 Like
    Reply
  16. rycm131

    2 years ago

    Tough blow. I once saw him at Raley’s. He signed my hat.

    5 Like
    Reply
    • painterman360

      2 years ago

      Love this

      2 Like
      Reply
  17. hiflew

    2 years ago

    A legend that is probably not remembered as much as he should be. One of the all time greats.

    6 Like
    Reply
    • painterman360

      2 years ago

      I agree, he was really good

      4 Like
      Reply
  18. MetsYankeesRedSox

    2 years ago

    youtu.be/Qf9oiVVBRpY

    3 Like
    Reply
  19. OglivieOglivie

    2 years ago

    Always loved that McCovey swing. A great talent.

    6 Like
    Reply
  20. WazBazbo

    2 years ago

    One of two posters I kept on my wall as a kid – Harmon Killebrew was the other. Always tough to lose heroes.

    7 Like
    Reply
    • MetsYankeesRedSox

      2 years ago

      Good story I read about Killebrews Mom and Dad in Readers Digest years ago. Harmon and Dad we’re playing on the lawn. Harmons Mom yelled at them saying they’ll ruin the grass. Harmons Dad told his wife….we’re raising a kid, not a lawn

      Like
      Reply
  21. Mendoza Line 215

    2 years ago

    Sad news.One of the greatest of the greats.He and Donn Clendenon had the best stretches that I ever saw,and both saved many outs because of it.Rest in peace big guy.

    6 Like
    Reply
  22. greatdaysport

    2 years ago

    Don drysdale probably has already greeted him with a high and inside pitch.
    One or two pitches later, Willie hits it right out of Heaven.

    10 Like
    Reply
  23. SFGiants4ever

    2 years ago

    Not sure who the jack hole is that gave all these comments a thumbs down, but obviously they’re a moron.
    Enough giving them any time.
    Willie will always be one of the first Giants any baseball fan will think of. While 80 is a good life, it feels like he is gone early and still had more knowledge to share with the youngsters.
    RIP Stretch.

    12 Like
    Reply
  24. tad2b13

    2 years ago

    Sad news. A true gentleman, and one of my favorites. He was devoted to baseball and the Giants attending every home game. He will be missed. RIP Willie, the world has lost a truly sweet man.

    6 Like
    Reply
  25. Cam

    2 years ago

    Legend. As a Dodgers fan, I’m conditioned to dislike the Giants – however, one has to respect how much McCovey bled black and orange. Greatness of talent, and greatness of character, surpasses any emotion a rivalry can bring out.

    Rest easy.

    9 Like
    Reply
  26. Palmerpark

    2 years ago

    Many a ceiling lamp taken out by pretending to be Willie Stargell or Big Mac warming up at the plate….

    2 Like
    Reply
  27. whynot101

    2 years ago

    Classy dude, rip my friend

    4 Like
    Reply
  28. jekporkinsjekporkins

    2 years ago

    Very sad. The Giants and their fans lost a legend. Whenever my father saw him he’d sigh and say, “If only he could have hit that line drive three feet higher over Bobby Richardson in 1962…”

    3 Like
    Reply
    • jim-41

      2 years ago

      so did Charlie Brown……

      1 Like
      Reply
  29. dandan

    2 years ago

    Wish I could have had the chance to watch Willie Mac play live. Such a great player and even better human being. Rest easy Mr. McCovey.

    1 Like
    Reply
    • Gil Gunderson

      2 years ago

      My first professional baseball game was in 1980 at the Stick. McCovey was in his final season, old and broken down, but still flashed that trademark swing and hit a rocket into the right field seats. One of my all time treasured baseball memories. We lost a great one.

      2 Like
      Reply
  30. Nobby

    2 years ago

    I got to see #44 play for the Giants in the late 70s and while it was near the end of his career, he was still a feared hitter and got much respect. RIP Willie.

    4 Like
    Reply
  31. CubsRule08

    2 years ago

    MLB lost a true icon of the game today. RIP Willie McCovey. Thank you for all you did for the game of baseball

    3 Like
    Reply
  32. 5TUNT1N

    2 years ago

    RIP Willie McCovey condolences to your family, I’m sure your good friends Willie and Barry are hurting right now too along with all of the giants fan base.

    Rant.
    Gone but not forgotten, glad he was able to see how much he means to the organization and city for those that don’t know a portion of the water next to the bridge is deemed McCovey Cove where splash hits land that are hit over the right field wall into the bay. Between the statues , retired numbers , organizational wall of fame , walk along the cove and see all the milestones from non HOF. I never really got a chance to see him play, Born 81 but my dad and the giants made sure I knew exactly who he is and what he’s achieved. I’ve worked a silly job for 12 years and to think of how it would feel to have such an impact on so many would keep me coming to the park as well!

    2 Like
    Reply
    • Gil Gunderson

      2 years ago

      Plus the annual Willie Mac award, voted by the players to their most inspirational teammate and a most fitting memorial to a man who truly embodied what it meant to be a San Francisco Giant.

      1 Like
      Reply
  33. jim-41

    2 years ago

    Condolences to the McCovery family, I remember watching him hit bombs to right field at the Stick! During day games while they had construction of the right field bleachers the workers would eat lunch while watching the game from the concrete pillars.. and WIllie Mac hit one up to them…caught them by surprise. 1971 Giants 21 Pirates 18….Stargell hit three that day.

    3 Like
    Reply
    • retire21

      2 years ago

      And then went on to meet in the playoffs.

      2 Like
      Reply
  34. bostonbob

    2 years ago

    Sad, another BB GIANT from my youthful years is gone. RIP

    2 Like
    Reply
  35. TrimReaper

    2 years ago

    Underrated star. Sad news.

    3 Like
    Reply
  36. Wolf Chan

    2 years ago

    As a giants fan if it didn’t already seem like the end of an era happening – you will be missed RIP. We gotta hit a few in the cove for you..

    2 Like
    Reply
  37. okiguess

    2 years ago

    Was blessed to see McCovey play. Was known as “the most feared hitter in baseball” at the time. While his lifetime stats were great, we can only imagine what they might have been had he not suffered with bum knees for much of his career. I heard Tim McCarver once comment that when he was a player on the opposing team – when McCovey came to bat they’d shout “get the married men off the field!” I certainly can’t recall anyone who hit the ball harder.

    3 Like
    Reply
    • Gil Gunderson

      2 years ago

      The “most feared hitter in baseball” quote was from none other than Bob Gibson, a pitcher so dominant you would not expect him to have the word “fear” in his vocabulary. High praise, indeed.

      2 Like
      Reply
  38. Larry Leonardo

    2 years ago

    Wonder where that telephone pole he used as a bat went. Great player, no doubt.

    3 Like
    Reply
  39. okiguess

    2 years ago

    260 career Intentional walks, 4th all time. Tells you all you need to know about his reputation as “the most feared hitter in baseball”.

    Like
    Reply
  40. The Ghost of Bobby Bonilla

    2 years ago

    Never saw him play, but one of the neatest baseball cards I ever pulled out of a pack was his. It was a “special 1/1” card with his autograph and a cutout from the number of his actual jersey. Sweet card. Got it graded a 10 and still have it. Not even a Giants fan, but love it.

    3 Like
    Reply
  41. Mech986TR

    2 years ago

    RIP Mr. McCovey, feared hitter and nemesis of the Dodgers, always respected his playing ability and leadership. Great loss to the Giants community, RIP.

    1 Like
    Reply

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