Next up in my new thread of 1970 "on-card" All-Stars is the National League starting first baseman for 1969, "Stretch" Willie McCovey, who was in the midst of his monster MVP season:
McCovey
made his fifth All-Star team that year, on his way to taking home the
league MVP Award after a season that saw him lead the league with 45
homers, 126 RBIs, a .453 OBP and a .656 slugging percentage, as well as a
whopping 45 intentional base on balls.
The man put it ALL together that year!
McCovey came into the Majors with a bang in 1959, tearing the seams
off the ball by hitting .354 with 13 homers and 38 runs batted in along
with 32 runs scored in only 52 games, copping a Rookie of the Year
Award and setting the tone for his 22-year career.
By the time he retired in 1980, he crushed 521 home runs, collected
over 2000 hits, drove in over 1500, and left his mark as one of the
most feared sluggers of his generation.
In 1986, his first year of eligibility, he was voted into the Hall of Fame with 81.4% of the ballots cast.
Man, what a threesome McCovey, Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda made back in the 1960's for San Francisco, huh?Just incredible.
