San Francisco Giants: Top 30 players of all-time

NY/SF Giants best players all-time: No. 5-Willie McCovey

61.4 WAR

Willie McCovey is so much more than McCovey Cove. One the top five players to ever put on a Giants uniform, he had two stints with the Giants–one to start his career (1959-1973) and one to end it (1977-1980).

He loved filling up the trophy case like many other Giants in their careers, as he was a six-time All-Star, NL MVP (1969), Rookie of the Year (1959), three-time NL home run leader (1963, 1968, 1969), and a two-time NL RBI leader (1968, 1969) in his first stint with San Francisco.

He was a huge part of the 1962 NL pennant-winning Giants team, and he almost won them the World Series over the New York Yankees. In the bottom of the ninth with two runners in scoring position, McCovey hit a liner that was caught by second baseman Bobby Richardson that would’ve won the Giants the World Series if it had gotten through.

After his career was finished, McCovey was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986–his first year of eligibility–getting over 80 percent of the vote.

McCovey Cove is what most people think of when Willie McCovey is mentioned in any conversation, as it is named after the right fielder and is referenced whenever a player “splashes” a home run into the cove on the fly.