Word tonight that Willie McCovey has died at 80.
Stretch was one of the most terrifying hitters I've ever seen. We got a nice break when his line drive in the 1962 World Series went straight to Bobby Richardson.
McCovey also seems to have been a real sweetheart. He made $869,500 in the course of his 19-year career—the equivalent of about 15 games in Gardner's new contract for next year.
Nonetheless, I remember a Roger Angell interview with McCovey about the Giants starting to drop out of contention in 1978. He was talking about how the people he really felt bad for were the fans, because there was nothing they could do about it.
How the Giants could not win with the likes of McCovey, Felipe Alou, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, and, of course, Willie Mays on the same team is beyond me. Maybe it was their karmic punishment for leaving Harlem.
But Stretch will be missed.
RIP Willie! He retired a year before I got into baseball but I do remember him on baseball cards and that he was one of the greats! As well as his HOF induction in '86!
ReplyDeleteMays, McCovey, Cepeda, Aaron...those guys were just "always there" as I grew up. Willie McC seemed like a genuinely nice guy, and he hit a ton. Too bad.
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