Willie McCovey -- underrated and undervalued?

[D. Bergin]

Mays shadow, mostly a 1st baseman, only 8 postseason games in his career (though he performed admirably in them), missed a lot of games in the 2nd half of his career, which depressed a lot of his still impressive counting stats.

Their career arcs are a bit different, but I see him as kind of a National League version of Harmon Killebrew. Both as players and how collectors see them as far as collectability.

[bk400]

Interesting comparison, indeed. The pricing on their mid-grade cards seems broadly similar as well. Seems like there's a bit more trades happening recently in the McCoveys, but neither card seems to have appreciated more than the market in recently years.

[jchcollins]

Remember the hobby works differently even from being a fan of the game. McCovey is seen as being in Mays' shadow in the hobby. In reality, SF the fans seemed to respect Mays - but they LOVED McCovey. It's always been strange to me how this translates or doesn't into card values.

Will agree with you on the whole that in the hobby McCovey fits in with other players like Yaz, Frank Robinson, Stan Musial, and there are a ton of pitchers - Carlton, Seaver, Palmer, etc. - who in comparison to the few "GOATS" of their era - don't get much hobby love or have cards that get really valuable outside of high end examples of their rookie cards.

[bk400]

Yes, Frank Robinson is another one that I don't really understand. His 1957 Topps rookie cards have appreciated well in the past 12-24 months, but they seem undervalued relative to their population when compared with guys like Mays.

[Beercan collector]

Also Eddie Matthews cards from the 60s are almost treated as commons

[brian1961]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Remember the hobby works differently even from being a fan of the game. McCovey is seen as being in Mays' shadow in the hobby. In reality, SF the fans seemed to respect Mays - but they LOVED McCovey. It's always been strange to me how this translates or doesn't into card values.

Will agree with you on the whole that in the hobby McCovey fits in with other players like Yaz, Frank Robinson, Stan Musial, and there are a ton of pitchers - Carlton, Seaver, Palmer, etc. - who in comparison to the few "GOATS" of their era - don't get much hobby love or have cards that get really valuable outside of high end examples of their rookie cards.

John, Thanks for the insight on what the fans thought of Willie McCovey. Just a quiet, no fuss, no showboat guy who was in Willie Mays's shadow. I'm not surprised the Frisco fans really loved Mr. McCovey. I well remember in the late 60s watching an episode of THE DATING GAME, and Willie was one of the contestants. The attractive gal chose somebody else to "date", and I think Willie's quiet, modest answers caused him to be ignored by the bachelorette. If you recall, the audience/TV viewers could see the contestants, but the girl could only hear their answers. After she made her selection, the host, Jim Lange, introduced the two rejected contestants. I think when she saw the tall, handsome Mr. McCovey, she quickly regretted her choice and desired Willie.

Ya win some. Ya lose some.

bk400-------When I would get McCovey in a Topps wax pack, I was pleased. I knew who he was, and I respected his numbers. Just like Frank Robinson, Stan Musial, Yaz, Carlton, Palmer, Gibson, Brock, Kaline, Rose et al.

But, when I got Mickey Mantle, it made my day, and my collecting year! By FAR!!!! On a lesser tier, I thought a lot of getting Ernie Banks, my favorite player, but I lived in the suburbs of Chicago. I was genuinely excited to get Tom Seaver though; I really admired him early on, and more so after 1969.

As collectors will school you, it's not the stats alone. Not by a long shot. You'd have collectors every once in a while whine and lament about how the cards of their guy were undervalued compared to ..... Certain players just have massive followings, and that's just the way it is. At least you'll be able to get the pick of the McCoveys you want.

Except for one. There's a Willie McCovey card I want real bad, and I won't tell you which one it is, 'cause I don't want more competition for it. I will kindly give you a hint---it's not an easy-weezie Topps mainstream gum card.
Have fun collecting "STRETCH". I just now read Willie's SABR entry. Good reading. I can see why you love McCovey; the more you get to know about him, the more you like him. --- Brian Powell