OT: MLB Legend Willie McCovey has passed away at 80 (nfm)

[HappyNUyear]

God Bless & RIP

 

[Hungry Jack]

500 home runs back when it was an exclusive club of very good hitters.

 

[SmellyCat]

Stretch.

 

[Williesfan]

One of my favorite hitters from my childhood.

 

[hdhntr1]

500 home runs back when it was an exclusive club of very good hitters.

At the same time, with the other guys at the time he was more under the radar, as good as he was.

 

[docrugby1]

My dad and I would venture to Connie Mack Stadium(Shibe Park) when the Giants were in town to see Willie Mays and Willie McCovey. Connie Mack had a right field wall similar to Fenway's left field wall. Watching McCovey launch balls over that wall in BP was always the highlight of our trips

 

[Aging Booster]

God Bless & RIP

After Lou Gehrig, probably the best 1b of all time. I never realized how close he and Aaron were until I read _I Had a Hammer_. From what I read, he sounds like a great guy. I never saw Ruth, et. al., but that collection of African-American ballplayers from the south made the '50s and '60s the golden age of baseball in my mind. I might add, that those men contributed a great deal to changing attitudes about race in this country. Many of us born as baby boomers grew up idolizing black men as ballplayers, and our heroes were men we respected on and off the field. We were probably the first generation up white kids who grew up looking up to black ballplayers. I have no doubt that this experience contributed mightily to our intolerance of racism when we reached college and adulthood.

 

[docrugby1]

After Lou Gehrig, probably the best 1b of all time. I never realized how close he and Aaron were until I read _I Had a Hammer_. From what I read, he sounds like a great guy. I never saw Ruth, et. al., but that collection of African-American ballplayers from the south made the '50s and '60s the golden age of baseball in my mind.

My dad would tell me of trips to see Ruth and Gehrig at Shibe Park. The Philadelphia Athletics played there until they left Philly although most people remember it as the home of the Phillies.. The high RF wall did not exist then and the pair would pepper the apartment building across the street. The wall was made higher to "protect" the apartment building but actually it then blocked the view into the ballpark, eliminating free loading fans from seeing the field

 

[RevCat]

At the same time, with the other guys at the time he was more under the radar, as good as he was.

Quite true.

 

[drewjin]

Grew up a Giants fan. My dad always referred to the part of the batting order that was Mays, McCovey and Jim Ray Hart as "the heavy artillery."

 

[Medill90]

500 home runs back when it was an exclusive club of very good hitters.

I remember watching a Cub game in the 70's and the announcers were discussing why McCovey was just too old to get to 500 home runs. Think it was when he was with the Padres when there were awful.