McCovey Monday #6

 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.

I decided to showcase another recent McCovey pick up this week. I promise I will get some more vintage cards into the mix but this card just came in and is a very nice addition to my collection.

This is my first autograph pick up of McCovey out of this year's Tribute issue.  I thought I would share the pros and cons of this card/set from my perspective.

Pros:

1. Its a Willie Mac Auto!
2. I like how the blue of the card matches the blue of signture
3. On card signature
4. Pretty nice signature of an aging McCovey
5. Great fact on the back "If there's a greater tribute to a player than winning an award, it's having one named after him.  Each year since 1980, Giants players and staff have given the Willie Mac Award to the player who best exemplifies the Hall of Famer's spirit and leadership."

Cons:

1. Blue really isn't a Giants color
2. On the fence on the encased and stickered card - decided it is a con
3. As a player collector, not a fan of all the parallels of this card, we have Base /99. Orange /25 (need one of these - bet the orange looks great!), Gold /15, Red /5, Onyx Gold Ink /1 and Purple /1 not to mention 4 signed printing plates

Gotta say my Pros far outweigh my Cons.

Speaking of the Willie Mac Award, here are the past Giants winner since the inception of the award.

Year    Player
1980    Jack Clark
1981    Larry Herndon
1982    Joe Morgan
1983    Darrell Evans
1984    Bob Brenly
1985    Mike Krukow
1986    Mike Krukow
1987    Chris Speier
1988    José Uribe
1989    Dave Dravecky
1990    Steve Bedrosian
1991    Robby Thompson
1992    Mike Felder
1993    Kirt Manwaring
1994    (not awarded due to strike)
1995    Mark Leiter
1995    Mark Carreon
1996    Shawon Dunston
1997    J. T. Snow
1998    Jeff Kent
1999    Marvin Benard
2000    Ellis Burks
2001    Mark Gardner
2001    Benito Santiago
2002    David Bell
2003    Marquis Grissom
2004    J. T. Snow
2005    Mike Matheny
2006    Omar Vizquel
2007    Bengie Molina
2008    Bengie Molina
2009    Matt Cain
2010    Andres Torres
2011    Ryan Vogelsong

There are some great names in SF Giants history on this list.  Is there anyone else surprised that Barry Bonds never won the spirit and leadership award?  Just kidding, although Jeff Kent is somewhat of a surprise.  Willie's great leadership and reputation as a wonderful teammate and stand up guy is part of the reason I was drawn to collect him as a kid.