[zeprock]

Willie McCovey passed away today at the age of 80. I want to take a moment to tell you about my favorite card.

It is still the card that fell out of my Corn Flakes box into my cereal bowl 48 years ago. My Kellogg's 3-D Willie McCovey.

It was fascinating. I liked it. I liked it a lot. I wanted more. It set off a chain reaction that kept me searching for baseball cards. I went to stores and bought them. I traded with my schoolmates. I begged for them for my birthday. 48 years later I am still clamoring for them. I have 1/1s. I have autographed cards from more than 100 different Hall of Famers. I have bat cards of Mantle, Aaron, Mays and Ted Williams. I have in-person autographs on cards, some I met in person, some through the mail. I have cards with jersey swatches, pieces of outfield walls, dugout benches, baseballs, bats, spikes, caps, stamps, medallions, etc. I have cards that are CDs and contain highlights. I have metal cards, plastic cards, wood cards, mini cards and giant cards. None of them make me feel like I felt when that 1970 Kellogg's 3-D Willie McCovey literally fell in front of me. That card sent me on a 48 year obsession that I have enjoyed most every minute of. My wife and kids have been instructed to slip it into my shirt pocket when they eventually put me away for good. It's going with me.



I will always hold a soft spot in my heart for Willie McCovey if not only for the great player that he was but for the incredible journey that his card set me off on. Thank you Willie.

Here is a link to some of my other favorite McCovey cards including one from each of his playing years.

http://www.zeprock.com/McCoveyGallery.html

[elberson]

Rip willie.........great player to watch

[DrMitchJ]

Great story
Great ballplayer

Rest In Peace, Willie

[hempick]

He retired 2 years before I was born, so I never got to see him play. I did pull a 1/1 of him from 2017 Topps Fire which I love, though. RIP :'(

[bonds20001]

One of my favorite Giants of all time..a joy to watch and a massive presence at the plate.

He played 4 decades!! Rookie 1959 and retired in 1980.

RIP Willie!!!

[toploader1976]

That's the most touching explanation of one person's love of this hobby that I've ever read.

[rjcj2017]

Many moons ago I was a sportswriter and covered the Giants-Marlins playoff series back in 2002 (I believe? maybe 2003?)

Before one of the day games, a group of us rode in the elevator with Mr. McCovey, and he said "good morning" in this big booming voice to everyone.

We all just kind of mumbled hello and stared at him in quiet reverence.

[corbin21]

In the late 1960's I became a Giants fan and although I could only see a few games a year when they played the mets. Willie always amazed me when he would walk to the plate with those long strides. You could tell that many of the pitchers he faced never felt comfortable throwing him the ball. Because of the inevitable moon shot when he connected. Great player, spokesman for the game, the gentle giant. R. I. P. Will "stretch" McCovey. I still have the 1967 card title "Fence Busters" that mom never found and didn't throw it away with all of my 1967-8 baseball cards.

[jack pfiester]

I've been buying Kellogg's sets recently and breaking them up for HOFer's. Some of the best looking food cards ever made! My favorite is the 1981 and 1982 set.