Editor’s note: Before his retirement in 2017, Mercury News sports columnist Mark Purdy reflected on Giants legend Willie McCovey.
How incredibly sad to hear that Willie McCovey is no longer with us. His death Wednesday was not unexpected. It was still crushing news, for all who loved and admired him. And that was a big club.
Yet I do feel good about one thing. McCovey died knowing he will never be forgotten in the baseball world — and especially in Northern California. McCovey once told me that he was truly worried about that, strange as that might sound.