Tom Brennan - Killer Mets Opponent: Willie McCovey

Peter DaSilva

The introduction of the expansion teams in 1962 - the NY Mets and the Houston Colt 45s - sure had a beneficial impact on some opposing hitters.

Willie McCovey was one.

Call him Stretch or Big Mac if you'd like, Willie actually won Rookie of the Year in the NL in 1959, 3 years before the Mets arrived on the scene.  He was only 21 and played just 52 phenomenal games, after an equally phenomenal stretch in AAA that season.

Combined in the AAA and majors that year, he had 541 at bats and had 35 doubles, 16 triples, 42 HRs, 130 RBIs, and hit .366. It seemed superstardom was on his doorstep.

But in 1960, he had 260 at bats, and hit just .239.  In 1961, he upped that to a bit .271 in 328 at bats.  That 1959 magic had receded - he needed a jolt.

In 1962, the jolt - the Mets and Houston - arrived.  Willie had just 229 at bats in 1962, but improved to .293/.368/.590.  Nice increase in his slash line, but how much did that have to do with the 2 new NL entrants?  A lot.

In 32 plate appearances vs. your Metsies, he feasted to the tune of .357/.375/.786.  Against Houston, .317/.391/.659 in 46 plate appearances.   He once again proved that he could tear up (the equivalent of) minor league pitching.

In 1963, Willie had his breakout season, with 44 HRs and 102 RBIs.  Again, the Mets and (now) Astros provided a boost - against those 2 rag tag outfits, he had 135 at bats, smacking 14 of his 44 HRs while hitting .375.  Thank you, expansionists.

I'm sure he would have excelled in his career whether or not he hit against those two teams, but they sure came along at an opportune time after having had solid but not overwhelming seasons in 1960 and 1961.  

Willie got to gorge himself on poor Mets pitching from 1962 through 1967, and career-wise, Big Mac was a thorn in the Mets' side: 

.299/.392/.597 in 623 ABs and 730 PAs, in which he hit 48 HRs and drove in 134 runs.

Met Killer.

And, credit where credit is due: he hit well against Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman: 35 for 123 (.280), with 8 HRs. And oddly, assuming the UltimateMets.com database is correct, which it clearly appears to be, Nolan Ryan held Willie to 2 for 11 - but never struck him out!

Anyway, I remember one at bat at Shea, where the pitcher tied him up and he lofted what seemed like a harmless pop fly to left center.  But...it carried out, somehow.  Dude was strong.

Before I go, I sometimes like to look at how a guy did age-wise, since so many contracts these days are long-term well into a player's 30s.

Well, once Willie had his breakout season in 1963, at age 25, he had a bad 1964 year following that, when he hit just a Lucas Duda-like .220.  Remember that when considering Jeff McNeil's off year.  Sometimes, a bad year is a springboard back to excellence.  

It was for Willie. From 1965 through 1970 (ages 27 to 32) he was a beastly terror to the entire NL, and then showed some slippage in his age 33 season in 1971.

He slipped a lot the next year, and never put up big numbers again, although he was feared and walked a lot for a few seasons.  He hit just .204 at age 38, but then put up an outlier, a very nice comeback season at age 39 (26 HRs, 86 RBIs, .280/.367/.500, followed up by 3 declining years at age 40 through 42.

So, like many guys, after the age of 33, he was far less of a player over his last (9) years than he had been in his previous (9) years.  

Anyway, Willie McCovey was truly feared by Mets fans, including this one, for many years.  He ended up at .270/.374/.515 for his career, and his 521 HRs and 1,555 RBIs made him a cinch Hall of Famer.  But the weak-pitching Mets for several years early in his career helped him break through in his early years and helped allow him to make his career numbers look that much better.

Another Hall of Fame contemporary left handed slugger also got welcome help from weak mid-1960s Mets (and other expansion team) pitching in getting his career cranking in high gear.  His name, and subject of an upcoming article? 

Willie Stargell.