At the time of his retirement in 1980, McCovey ranked second only to Babe Ruth in career home runs among left-handed batters and seventh overall.

He was a six-time All-Star, three-time home run champion, MVP, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986 in his first year of eligibility, only the 16th man so honored, at the time.

[3] McCovey was called "the scariest hitter in baseball" by pitcher Bob Gibson, seconded by similarly feared slugger Reggie Jackson.

[7] Despite being passed on by scout Ed Scott, who signed Hank Aaron for the Negro American League Indianapolis Clowns, McCovey was invited to a New York Giants tryout camp in Melbourne, Florida, while he was living and working in Los Angeles.

[10] In his Major League debut on July 30, 1959, McCovey went four-for-four against Hall-of-Famer Robin Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies with two singles and two triples.

He had a 22-game hitting streak, setting the mark for San Francisco Giants rookies, four short of the all-time team record.

Season-long struggles caused him to be demoted to the minor leagues at one point, and the San Francisco fans booed him relentlessly.

However, new manager Alvin Dark declared McCovey his first baseman for 1961, putting Cepeda in right field to begin the year.

James S. Hirsch, who wrote a biography of Mays, reported that a recurring joke among the Giants "was that McCovey didn't need a glove to play the outfield, just a blindfold and a cigarette.

[6][20] The first ran on December 22, 1962, with Charlie Brown sitting silently alongside Linus for three panels before suddenly lamenting, "Why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball just three feet higher?"

The second, from January 28, 1963, featured Charlie Brown breaking an identical extended silence by crying, "Or why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball even two feet higher?

[22] McCovey spent many years at the heart of the Giants' batting order, along with fellow Hall-of-Fame member Willie Mays.

[6] In the early years of Candlestick Park, the Giants home stadium, the area behind right field was open except for three small bleacher sections.

[24] Injuries limited McCovey to 105 games in 1971, but he reached the playoffs for the first time in nine years as the Giants won the NL West.

Troubled with arthritic knees for two seasons, the 35‐year‐old McCovey was critical of manager Charlie Fox for diminishing his starting first baseman role in favor of Gary Thomasson.

That year, during a June 27 game against the Cincinnati Reds, he became the first player to hit two home runs in one inning twice in his career (the first was on April 12, 1973), a feat since accomplished by Andre Dawson, Jeff King, Alex Rodriguez, and Edwin Encarnación.

[34] McCovey was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986 in his first year of eligibility — making him the 16th player so honored.

Announcer Jack Buck thought a McCovey line-drive home run to centerfield was the hardest ball he had ever seen anyone hit.

[39] The inlet of San Francisco Bay beyond the right field fence of Oracle Park, historically known as China Basin, has been re-dubbed McCovey Cove in his honor.

On September 21, 1980, the Giants retired his uniform number 44, which he wore in honor of Hank Aaron, a fellow Mobile, Alabama native.

[47] In 1996, McCovey and fellow baseball Hall of Famer Duke Snider pled guilty to federal tax fraud charges that they had failed to report about $70,000 in income from sports card shows and memorabilia sales from 1988 to 1990.

[51] McCovey died at the age of 80 at Stanford University Medical Center on October 31, 2018, after battling "ongoing health issues".