Statue of Willie McCovey | |
---|---|
Artist | William Behrends |
Year | 2003 |
Subject | Willie McCovey |
Location | Oracle Park San Francisco, California, U.S. |
37°46′36″N122°23′15″W / 37.77659°N 122.38755°W |
A statue of Baseball Hall of Fame player Willie McCovey was installed in McCovey Cove, San Francisco. It was unveiled in 2003 and was created by sculptor William Behrends. [1]
The statue was removed by San Francisco Giants and put into storage in July 2020 to keep it safe from any possible damage from construction work going on nearby. [2] It was put back on display at a new location just before the 2024 season. [3]
The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. Founded in 1883 as the New York Gothams, the team was renamed the New York Giants three years later, eventually relocating from New York City to San Francisco in 1958. The Giants play their home games in Oracle Park in San Francisco.
Willie Howard Mays Jr., nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Mays was a five-tool player who began his career in the Negro leagues, playing for the Birmingham Black Barons, and spent the rest of his career in the National League (NL), playing for the New York / San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.
Oracle Park is a baseball stadium in the SoMa district of San Francisco, California. Since 2000, it has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants. Previously named Pacific Bell Park, SBC Park, and AT&T Park, the stadium's current name was purchased by the Oracle Corporation in 2019.
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Willie Lee McCovey, nicknamed "Stretch" and "Willie Mac", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a first baseman from 1959 to 1980, most notably as a member of the San Francisco Giants for whom he played for 19 seasons. McCovey also played for the San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics in the latter part of his MLB career.
The 1962 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1962 season. The 59th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff that matched the defending American League (AL) and World Series champion New York Yankees against the National League (NL) champion San Francisco Giants. The Yankees won the series in seven games for the 20th championship in team history. It is best remembered for its dramatic conclusion in Game 7; with runners on second and third base and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Giants’ Willie McCovey hit a hard line drive that was caught by Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson to preserve New York's one-run victory. Yankees pitcher Ralph Terry was named the World Series Most Valuable Player.
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The Willie Mac Award is named in honor of Willie McCovey. It has been presented annually since 1980 to the most inspirational player on the San Francisco Giants, as voted upon by Giants players, coaches, training staff, and more recently, Giants fans. McCovey personally presented the winner with the award in a pregame ceremony at AT&T Park near the conclusion of each season until his death on October 31, 2018.
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William Frederick Behrends is an American sculptor who is best known for creating statues of iconic American sports figures, notably baseball players.