Monday, May 7, 2012

McCovey Monday #4

 My favorite player of all time is Hall of Famer Willie McCovey.  I have amassed a collection of over 1100 different  McCovey cards since I started collecting him in the late 1980s.  I will show off one of my favorite cards every Monday.  Stretch was one of the most feared hitters of all time and I am excited to show off my collection.

So far I have showcased McCovey cards from the 2000s.  My collection includes cards all the way back to McCovey's 1960 Topps Rookie card so I thought I would turn back the clock and show something a little older.


This is a small record measuring 2 1/2" in diameter that was put out by Mattel in 1971.  There are a total of 9 players in the set and each player has two different versions of the disc.  The more common version has a picture on one side, while the rarer version has pictures on both.  I have both versions of the McCovey disc and chose to show the 2-sided version (the other version just has the green side).

These were designed to be played on a special Mattel mini-record player, I am not actually sure what music or recording is on these records. The single sided are black plastic discs while the two sided ones are ivory in color.  These are also known as "Mattel Show 'N Tell".  There are also discs from football, basketball and hockey.  Doing a quick search on eBay, it appears the football and basketball records are more plentiful and it looks like these were distributed in 4-packs


I really like the look of this McCovey.  On the front you have a close up of Willie Mac and also a small picture of him in his follow thru HR swing.  The back shows an action shot of Stretch sliding into home.  My guess is this came from earlier in his career when he could actually run.  It got to be painful seeing him lumber later in his career and he now can barely get around, walking with canes when he isn't in a wheel chair, due to numerous knee injuries.  The back also is in Giant's orange which adds to the eye appeal.

The checklist is pretty impressive with all but one of the baseball players being in the HOF.  Here are the players included: Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Al Kaline, Willie Mays, McCovey, Tony Oliva, Frank Robinson, Tom Seaver and Willie Stargell.

2 comments:

  1. for what it's worth...i was at pac bell on the back to back games when (cheater) bonds tied, and then broke, mccovey's home run records on consecutive games. i watched him break the record from right behind home plate.

    you know i'm not a fan of your team, but i totally dig the way your stadium has the ultimate line up of food stands followed by beer stands, pubs, more food stands, bars, snack stands, more beer bars...most excellent.

    BTW - Dodgers won tonight. ;)

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  2. I am glad you are willing to admit the stadium is awesome, best place I have seen a game. Although the history in Wrigley and Fenway are imporessive.

    I am hoping the Giants can bounce back tonight with a W...

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