Minor Leagues Despite being passed on by scout Ed Scott, who signed
Hank Aaron for the
Negro American League Indianapolis Clowns, McCovey was invited to a
New York Giants tryout camp in
Melbourne, Florida, while he was living and working in
Los Angeles. The invitation came from Giants scout and former Negro league owner Alex Pompez. McCovey was 17 years old, 6'2", 165 pounds, and proceeded to hit .305 with 19 home runs, scoring 113 runs in 107 games. On his way to the
Major Leagues, McCovey played for a
San Francisco Giants' farm club in
Dallas, Texas that was part of the Class AA Texas League. He did not participate when his team played in
Shreveport, Louisiana, due to segregation in that city. He later played for the
Pacific Coast League Phoenix Giants just prior to being called up by the San Francisco Giants.
San Francisco Giants (1959–1973) In his Major League debut on July 30, 1959, McCovey went four-for-four against
Hall-of-Famer Robin Roberts of the
Philadelphia Phillies with two
singles and two
triples. The 1960 season was disappointing for McCovey. Season-long struggles caused him to be demoted to the minor leagues at one point, and the San Francisco fans booed him relentlessly. In nearly twice as many games as the previous year (101 to 52), he still hit the same number of home runs (13), batting .238. McCovey was not the only first baseman on the Giants. First base was also the natural position of
Orlando Cepeda, who had won the NL Rookie of the Year Award the year before McCovey and played about 60 games at the position in 1959 when McCovey was in the minor leagues. However, new manager
Alvin Dark declared McCovey his first baseman for 1961, putting Cepeda in right field to begin the year. Dark also assigned
Willie Mays as McCovey's roommate. In 1962, Dark decided to put Cepeda at first base full-time and move McCovey to the outfield.
James S. Hirsch, who wrote a biography of Mays, reported that a recurring joke among the Giants "was that McCovey didn't need a glove to play the outfield, just a blindfold and a cigarette." Because McCovey had struggled against left-handed pitching, Dark played him only when a right-hander was starting and frequently pinch-hit for McCovey if a left-hander was brought in. In the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7, with two outs and the Giants trailing 1–0, Mays was on second base and
Matty Alou was on third base. Any base hit would likely have won the championship for the Giants. McCovey hit a hard
line drive that was snared by the Yankees'
second baseman Bobby Richardson, ending the series with a Yankees win. The moment was immortalized in two
Peanuts comic strips by
Charles M. Schulz. The first ran on December 22, 1962, with
Charlie Brown sitting silently alongside
Linus for three panels before suddenly lamenting, "Why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball just three feet higher?" The second, from January 28, 1963, featured Charlie Brown breaking an identical extended silence by crying, "Or why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball even
two feet higher?" On the occasion of his Hall of Fame election 24 years later, McCovey was asked how he would like his career to be remembered. “As the guy who hit the ball over Bobby Richardson’s head in the seventh game,” replied McCovey. McCovey spent many years at the heart of the Giants' batting order, along with fellow Hall-of-Fame member
Willie Mays. His best year statistically was 1969, when he hit 45 home runs, had 126
RBI and
batted .320 to become the
National League MVP. He was also named the
Most Valuable Player of the
1969 All-Star Game after hitting two home runs to lead the National League team to a 9–3 victory over the American League. He won NL Player of the Month awards in July 1963 (.310, 13 HR, 27 RBI) and August 1969 (.315, 8 HR, 22 RBI). In 1963 he and
Hank Aaron tied for the NL lead with 44 home runs. Injuries limited McCovey to 105 games in 1971, but he reached the playoffs for the first time in nine years as the Giants won the
NL West. He was afflicted by injuries again in 1972, as he broke his arm early in the year in a collision at first base.
San Diego Padres (1974–1976) ' shortstop
Dave Concepción out at first base in McCovey's last game at Candlestick Park He was traded along with
Bernie Williams from the Giants to the
San Diego Padres for
Mike Caldwell on October 25, 1973. Troubled with
arthritic knees for two seasons, the 35‐year‐old McCovey was critical of manager
Charlie Fox for diminishing his starting first baseman role in favor of
Gary Thomasson. The Giants had been trading their higher-priced players and gave McCovey input into his destination. In 1976, McCovey struggled, and lost the starting first base job to
Mike Ivie. He batted .203 with seven home runs in 71 games.
Oakland Athletics (1976) Near the end of the season, the
Oakland Athletics purchased his contract from the Padres. He played in eleven games for them. On June 30, 1978, at
Atlanta's
Fulton County Stadium, McCovey hit his 500th home run, and two years later, on May 3, 1980, at
Montreal's
Olympic Stadium, McCovey hit his 521st and last home run, off
Scott Sanderson of the
Montreal Expos. This home run gave McCovey the distinction, along with
Ted Williams (with whom he was tied in home runs),
Rickey Henderson, and
Omar Vizquel of homering in four different decades: the 1950s, '60s, '70s, and '80s. McCovey is one of only 29 players in baseball history to date to have appeared in Major League baseball games in four decades. In his 22-year career, McCovey
batted .270, with 521 home runs and 1,555 RBIs, 1,229
runs scored, 2,211
hits, 353
doubles, 46 triples, 1,345
bases on balls, a .374
on-base percentage and a .515
slugging percentage. He also hit 18
grand slam home runs in his career, a
National League record, and was a six-time
All-Star. ==Post-playing career==