[qwerty49]

I remember McCovey had such a fabulous debut year, ending at .359 back in 1959 but had a terrible year the following year where he slumped to about .238. And one of the local curmudgeons in the Chron, Charles McCabe, was all over him. McCabe was pretty vitriolic and IIRC he was really upset that they couldn’t figure out what to do with Cepeda, who himself hit .312 in his rookie year in 1958.

They tried Cepeda at 3B briefly but he was terrible there and they had Davenport already and Jim Ray Hart in the pipeline. Then they tried him in LF and he was really bad there. They also tried moving McCovey to LF, which provided some thrilling adventures as Willie was not exactly a born outfielder.  But for a couple of years they had one too many HOF 1st basemen.  It eventually forced the infamous Cepeda-for-Sadecki trade.

[quote author=Phogge link=topic=18773.msg225787#msg225787 date=1520835466]
I bought Willie’s house on Miraloma Drive. Lex and Bobbb I’ll tell you the true story next September. The fans came around to him eventually but Richard Young and other writers deified him and he didn’t hit .400 and 70 homers so in some respects he was a letdown.

And neither of you guys worked with him for five years. He was a nightmare.

These days, you would say he "lacks basic life skills."

He did eventually end up buying in Atherton or Hillsborough.  I don't feel too bad for him.

My generation was slightly after Mays.  My favorite and that of all my friends was Willie McCovey.
[/quote]

[qwerty49]

I remember McCovey had such a fabulous debut year, ending at .359 back in 1959 but had a terrible year the following year where he slumped to about .238. And one of the local curmudgeons in the Chron, Charles McCabe, was all over him. McCabe was pretty vitriolic and IIRC he was really upset that they couldn’t figure out what to do with Cepeda, who himself hit .312 in his rookie year in 1958.

They tried Cepeda at 3B briefly but he was terrible there and they had Davenport already and Jim Ray Hart in the pipeline. Then they tried him in LF and he was really bad there. They also tried moving McCovey to LF, which provided some thrilling adventures as Willie was not exactly a born outfielder.  But for a couple of years they had one too many HOF 1st basemen.  It eventually forced the infamous Cepeda-for-Sadecki trade.

[quote author=Phogge link=topic=18773.msg225787#msg225787 date=1520835466]
I bought Willie’s house on Miraloma Drive. Lex and Bobbb I’ll tell you the true story next September. The fans came around to him eventually but Richard Young and other writers deified him and he didn’t hit .400 and 70 homers so in some respects he was a letdown.

And neither of you guys worked with him for five years. He was a nightmare.

These days, you would say he "lacks basic life skills."

He did eventually end up buying in Atherton or Hillsborough.  I don't feel too bad for him.

My generation was slightly after Mays.  My favorite and that of all my friends was Willie McCovey.
[/quote]