The Deadball Destroyer: How Willie McCovey Mashed When It Was Incredibly Hard
During an era in which pitching dominated the game, Willie McCovey kept pummeling baseballs.
Isn’t it great when a player can fight through certain situations/elements and still perform when it seems like many aren’t able to? That’s what legendary San Francisco Giants slugger Willie McCovey was able to do in the 1960s.
Baseball-Reference refers to the period between 1964 and 1972 as the “second deadball era.” It was punctuated by the Year of the Pitcher in 1968. Bob Gibson was the poster child for it, as he won both the Cy Young and MVP Awards that year. He went 22-9 with a ridiculous 1.12 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, and 268 strikeouts in 304.1 innings pitched.
Gibson is notorious for not being afraid of anyone, which is why it was probably the ultimate compliment when he referred to McCovey as “the scariest hitter in baseball.” With that in mind, let’s revisit the Hall of Famer’s offensive production during MLB’s second deadball era and how he stacked up against some of the game’s greats.
McCovey’s Stats During MLB’s Second Deadball Era
The nine years from 1964-72 spanned McCovey’s age-26 to age-34 seasons. So, he played the prime of his career during one of the most difficult times ever for hitters. Let’s also remember that the slugger played his home games at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, which wasn’t exactly a hitter’s paradise.
That makes what he did during this period even more impressive than it already was. McCovey slashed .278/.392/.543 with 276 homers, 176 doubles, 795 RBI, and 661 runs scored in 4,775 plate appearances.
Those homers ranked fourth during this period. Hank Aaron (331), Harmon Killebrew (318), and Billy Williams (282) hit more homers than McCovey, with Williams being the only lefty. It’s also worth noting that his .936 OPS was tied with Dick Allen for the second-highest mark in baseball, trailing only Hank Aaron (.940).
An average year for McCovey from 1964-72 included 31 homers, 20 doubles, 88 RBI, and 73 runs scored.
McCovey’s Power Peak Is Easy to Find
I’ve highlighted an “average year” for many players when trying to showcase their greatness. When compared to some others I’ve mentioned over the past few weeks/months, McCovey’s numbers above might feel slightly more pedestrian (although I’d still take them!).
That’s because he had a couple of tougher years in 1971 and 1972. However, he did post six straight years of 30-plus homers from 1965-70. If we look at an average year for McCovey during this stretch, those numbers jump up to about 37 homers, 23 doubles, 106 RBI, and 88 runs scored.
It’s not that those initial numbers were bad, but these certainly jump off the page a bit more. Within this stretch, McCovey was on another level between 1968 and 1970… at the height of the second deadball era.
He put together four seasons of 30-plus homers and 100-plus RBI during his career. Three of them came consecutively:
1968: 36 homers and 105 RBI (both led the league)
1969: 45 homers and 126 RBI (both led the league)
1970: 39 homers and 126 RBI
McCovey slashed .300/.425/.603 during this time. His 1.028 OPS was easily MLB’s best, with Carl Yastrzemski coming in second at .945. He slugged a total of 120 homers, which was second only to Frank Howard (136). However, McCovey did find himself at the top of the RBI leaderboard by driving in 357 runs.
His best season of all was 1969 — he took home National League MVP honors while posting a league-leading 1.108 OPS.
Respect Came in the Form of Intentional Walks
Exactly how feared was McCovey at the plate, you ask? Well, you can get a glimpse of that by finding out how little opposing pitchers wanted to face him compared to his peers.
McCovey led baseball in intentional walks during both 1969 (45) and 1970 (40). His 105 intentional walks from 1968-70 were easily the most in baseball. Howard checked in at a distant second with 60.
It feels like the left-handed slugger can easily be overlooked during this era, especially with Willie Mays as his teammate. While many young baseball fans might only know McCovey as the body of water beyond the right-field fence at Oracle Park, he was so much more than that.
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Love me some Willie McCovey and great point about him excelling during a diminished offensive era. Imposing is what I remember. Stretch may not have been larger than life but he was larger than just about everyone else!