‘Stretch’ a true baseball Giant
SAN FRANCISCO — Willie McCovey, the sweet-swinging Hall of Famer nicknamed “Stretch” for his 6-foot-4 height and those long arms, died Wednesday. He was 80.
The San Francisco Giants announced McCovey’s death, saying the fearsome hitter died “peacefully” on Wednesday afternoon “after losing his battle with ongoing health issues.”
A first baseman and left fielder, McCovey was a .270 career hitter with 521 home runs and 1,555 RBIs in 22 majorleague seasons, 19 of them with the Giants. He also played for the Athletics and Padres.
McCovey made his majorleague debut at age 21 on July 30, 1959, and played alongside the other Willie — Hall of Famer Willie Mays — into the 1972 season before Mays was traded to the New York Mets that May.
McCovey batted .354 with 13 homers and 38 RBIs on the way to winning the 1959 NL Rookie of the Year award. The six-time All-Star also won the 1969 NL MVP and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986 after his first time on the ballot.
“You knew right away he wasn’t an ordinary ballplayer,” Hall of Famer Hank Aaron said, courtesy of the Hall of Fame. “He was so strong, and he had the gift of knowing the strike zone. There’s no telling how many home runs he would have hit if those knees weren’t bothering him all the time and if he played in a park other than Candlestick.”
McCovey had been getting around in a wheelchair in recent years because he could no longer rely on his once-dependable legs, yet was still regularly seen at the ballpark in his private suite. McCovey had attended games at AT&T Park as recently as the season finale.
“I love him so much. It’s a very sad day for me. We were very close,” Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda said in a telephone interview. “Willie McCovey was not only a great ballplayer but a great teammate. He didn’t have any fear. He never complained. I remember one time in 1960 they sent him down to the minor leagues after being Rookie of the Year the year before. He didn’t complain. He was very polite, he was very quiet. He was a great man, a great friend.”
While the Giants captured their third World Series title of the decade in 2014, McCovey returned to watch them play while still recovering from an infection that hospitalized him that September for about a month.
He attended one game at AT&T Park during both the NL Championship Series and World Series. He even waited for the team at the end of the parade route inside San Francisco’s Civic Center.
“It was touch and go for a while,” McCovey said at the time. “They pulled me through, and I’ve come a long way.”
Said McCovey’s wife, Estela, whom he married this summer: “Every moment he will be terribly missed. He was my best friend and husband. Living life without him will never be the same.”
McCovey had a daughter, Allison, and three grandchildren, Raven, Philip, and Marissa.