From the desk of Dan Price
I read an article recently that San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval smacked a home run into McCovey Cove on the 50th anniversary of Willie McCovey's debut with the Giants.
McCovey spent most of his 22 Hall of Fame seasons with the Giants, starting in 1959 and ending in 1979. Sandoval's round-tripper jogged my memory, and I recall, as a sportswriter in 1995, I recalled interviewing a retired relief pitcher by the name of Greg "Moon" Minton. Minton also had a lengthy career in the majors. He ended his 16-year career with an ERA of 3.10 while pitching 1,130 innings and a won-loss record of 59-65. Minton retired in 1990.
I caught up with him in '95 when he had settled in Phoenix and had gone into the real estate business. At any rate, he told me this tale about McCovey and a Giants' rookie, whose name escapes me (you know, I'm a senior citizen...give me a break!). Minton said the rookie showed up in the locker room on his first day and discovered the shoes he had brought didn't conform to the Giants' standards. Of course, this unnerved the rookie. But, as the story goes, the following day, the rookie returned to the locker room, and on the bench, in front of his locker, were three pairs of shoes-all in his size, all of which conformed to the Giant's guidelines on apparel. According to Minton, the shoes came from McCovey, and it wasn't the first or the last time he had witnessed McCovey putting his teammates first.
As for McCovey, his Hall of Fame statistics are well documented. He finished his career with 521 home runs and 1,555 RBI. The hard-hitting left-handed first baseman was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1986.
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