Willie McCovey Statue
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The Willie Lee McCovey statue was erected to honor one of the San Francisco Giants favorite first base players. He played a total of 22 baseball seasons between two teams the San Francisco Giants for 19 seasons and the San Diego Padres for three seasons, before he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Willie was considered one of the most intimidating power hitters of his time especially since he hit left handed. On top of that Bob Gibson named him one of the scariest hitters in baseball. He had a total of 521 homeruns in his baseball career 231 of them being hit in Candlestick Park. He was one of the best first base men and his nickname “Stretch” fit him well.
With his inspirational plays that stretched over four years and would end up as an award that would be shared as the Annual Willie McCovey Award that is the highest award the giants can give a fellow teammate.
This statue has been displayed to keep the legend alive and in the hearts of all the Giants, and to keep watch over the McCovey Cove in the China Basin Park. The statue is also a great place for after a win to celebrate with other Giant fans. (MLB.com, 2015)