Willie McCovey
MLB debut July 30, 1959 for the San Francisco Giants Last MLB appearance July 6, 1980 for the San Francisco Giants Career statistics Batting average .270 Hits 2,211 Home runs 521 Runs batted in 1,555 Teams San Francisco Giants (1959–1973) San Diego Padres (1974–1976) Oakland Athletics (1976) San Francisco Giants (1977–1980) Career highlights and awards 6× All-Star (1963, 1966, 1968–1971) NL MVP (1969) NL Rookie of the Year (1959) MLB All-Star Game MVP (1969) NL Comeback Player of the Year (1977) 3× NL home run champion (1963, 1968, 1969) 2× NL RBI champion (1968, 1969) San Francisco Giants #44 retired Member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction 1986 Vote 81.4% (first ballot) Willie Lee McCovey (born January 10, 1938), nicknamed "Mac", "Big Mac", and "Stretch", is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. He played nineteen seasons for the San Francisco Giants, and three more for the San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics, between 1959 and 1980. He batted and threw left-handed and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986. One of the most intimidating power hitters of his era, McCovey was called "the scariest hitter in baseball" by pitcher Bob Gibson, an assessment with which Reggie Jackson concurred. McCovey's powerful swing generated 521 home runs, 231 of which he hit in Candlestick Park, the most hit there by any player, and included a home run of Sept. 16, 1966 described as the longest ever hit in that stadium.