GIANTS LEGEND MCCOVEY DIES
Kershaw, Dodgers agree to extend opt-out deadline
Affectionally known by the nickname “Stretch” when in San Francisco, Hall of Famer Willie McCovey died Wednesday at age 80.
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 passed “peacefully” in the afternoon “after losing his battle with ongoing health issues.”
A former first baseman and left fielder, McCovey was a career .270 hitter with 521 home runs and 1,555 RBIs in 22 major league seasons, 19 of them with the Giants. He also played for the Athletics and Padres.
McCovey made his major league debut at age 21 on July 30, 1959, after dominating the Pacific Coast League that year. He played alongside the other Willie — Hall of Famer Willie Mays — into the 1972 season before Mays was traded to the New York Mets.
In his debut, McCovey went 4 for 4 with two triples, two RBIs and three runs scored in a 7-2 win against Philadelphia — and that began a stretch of the Giants winning 10 out of 12 games.
McCovey batted .354 with 13 homers, 38 RBIs, five triples and nine doubles on the way to winning NL Rookie of the Year.
“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.”
He had attended games at AT&T Park as recently as the final game of the season.
“For more than six decades, he gave his heart and soul to the Giants,” Giants President and CEO Larry Baer said.
McCovey had been getting around in a wheelchair in recent years, yet was still regularly seen in his ballpark suite.
Even four-plus decades later, it still stung for the left-handed slugging McCovey that he never won a World Series after coming so close. He lined out to end the Giants’ 1962 World Series loss to the Yankees.
“I still think about it all the time, I still think, ‘If I could have hit it a little more,’” he said Oct. 31, 2014.
The Giants said a public celebration of McCovey’s life would be held at a later date.
DODGERS: Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers want some more time to consider their possible future together.
The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner and the team agreed to extend the deadline on his opt-out decision by 40 hours until 2 p.m. MDT Friday.
Kershaw can opt out of the last two years and $65 million of his contract to become a free agent for the first time in an 11-year big league career spent entirely with the Dodgers. They drafted him in 2006.
If he opts out, he could negotiate with any team, including the Dodgers.
He signed a $215 million, seven-year contract in January 2014 that calls for salaries of $32 million next year and $33 million in 2020. Kershaw was 9-5 with a 2.73 ERA this season.
At 30, he remains one of baseball’s premier pitchers. But the left-handed ace had two separate stints on the disabled list for the fourth time in five years this season, and his fastball velocity has decreased.
Despite all of his individual accolades, the seven-time All-Star has yet to win a World Series. Kershaw is 9-10 with a 4.32 ERA in the postseason in his career, including 1-4 with a 6.06 ERA in elimination games. He is 153-69 with a 2.39 ERA during the regular season. RED SOX: In Boston, confetti cannons boomed and huge crowds of fans cheered wildly Wednesday as the Red Sox rumbled through downtown aboard duck boats to mark the team’s fourth World Series championship in the past 15 years.
One of the team’s championship trophies and team manager Alex Cora were hit by flying cans of beer that Boston fans have made a practice of offering their sports heroes during recent victory parades. Neither was seriously injured and it didn’t take any varnish off the shining celebration through major city streets lined by fans numbering in the hundreds of thousands.
During the festivities, left-hander David Price said he would stay in Boston rather than opt out of his contract and become a free agent.
CUBS: Chicago exercised its $10.5 million option on pitcher Jose Quintana.
The 29-year-old left-hander was 13-11 with a 4.03 ERA in 32 starts in his first full season with the Cubs.
BLUE JAYS: First baseman Justin Smoak’s $8 million option for 2019 has been exercised by Toronto.
ASTROS: Houston declined its $15 million club option for 2019 on catcher Brian McCann.