Thursday, November 1, 2018

Remembering Stretch, R.I.P. Willie McCovey

Andrew McCutchen was a Giant for only 3/4 of a season, but that didn't stop him from becoming part of the San Francisco community.

Very quickly Cutch joined in supporting Willie McCovey's Stretch Drive.  The effort was to try to provide baseball equipment to financially burdened families in the San Francisco area.
Cutch will always call Pittsburgh home, but for a few months this summer his time was west, in San Francisco where he quickly won fans over with his love of the game and life.

The Stretch Drive Junior Giants offered a number of gifts to those that donated money to the foundation.  I chose to donate only a minimum of $50 which helped 1 child with their baseball registration and equipment.  Other donations could lead to bats signed by either Cutch or Stretch.  For $500 donation you could get an official 60 year anniversary baseball signed by both Cutch and Stretch on the same ball.  I really toyed with the idea of going this big with my donation, but ultimately decided against it.

With McCovey's recent passing I regret the opportunity to get a baseball signed by my favorite player of All-Time with one of the greatest players of All-Time.  More so, I wish I could have helped an entire team rather than one little leaguer.

Even though Cutch was only in San Francisco for such a short time I am,glad that I was able to add this very unique bobble head to my collection for supporting The Drive.

The box came with delivery confirmation from FedEx so I knew they took great pride in the shipment of these gifts for the donation.
This image of Cutch appears on both sides of the box for the bobble head.
The one side discusses the Stretch Drive and impact it has on the community.

The other side shows an image of the Junior Giants.

The top of the box is very simple.

For more information about the StretchDrive Junior Giants click HERE.

A Giants fansite, McCovey Chronicles, discusses how Cutch was the best Giants player and person despite a shortened season with the team.  The article really shines a positive light on not only the great ballplayer Cutch is, but also the great person he is.  Check it out here to read the article.


I am still in need of the 2018 Topps Heritage High Numbers Throwback variant where Cutch is wearing the vintage uniforms made famous by Willie McCovey.  The card looks like this:
McCovey was erroneously written about on the back of an Andrew McCutchen baseball card.  You can read my original post here.


4 comments:

  1. Alphabetically, McCovey and McCutchen will always be close. But also both great players and great men.

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  2. Stretch was a magnificent power hitter, and I remember watching him in the early 1970s as Mays was ending his career.
    Good job helping the Giants community.

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  3. The local radio talked about McCovey's amazing work with the community. Listening to all of those tributes made me feel bad that I didn't collect more of his cards. He was definitely one of the good guys.

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  4. I feel bad that I'm learning so much about McCovey only due to his passing. Admittedly, I didn't even know he was still alive until I heard he died. I know that's bad.

    Like Fuji said, he was definitely one of the good guys, and I'm glad I have a few cards of his stashed away.

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