Willie McGee
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Willie Dean McGee (born November 2 1958 in San Francisco, California) is a former outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals (1982 - 1990), the Oakland Athletics (briefly in 1990), the San Francisco Giants (1991 - 1994), the Boston Red Sox (1995), and then again the Cardinals (1996 - 1999)
McGee was considered one of the most beloved Cardinals of all time by many fans, and helped them win a World Series in 1982, his first year in the majors. That year, he batted .296, with 4 home runs and 56 RBI's. McGee's numbers generally progressed with every season, and he became one of the most consistent players of all time.
By far his best year was 1985, when he was named the National League MVP. His stats were outstanding, picking up 216 hits on the year, 10 home runs, 82 RBI's, and an incredible .353 batting average, which was good for a batting title. Other stats included 56 stolen bases, 114 runs scored, and a .503 slugging percentage. He also led the league in triples with 18. It was clear why he was being named MVP and made an all-star for the 2nd of 4 times. To add to all that, he won a Gold Glove Award in the outfield.
McGee batted batted over .300 (.301) and drove in 46 runs in 1993, his final full-year outside of a Cardinals uniform.
His last years brought him back to St. Louis, where he was used a utility player, averaging about 300 at bats a year. He played his final game on October 3, 1999 when he was the third-oldest player in the majors.
In his career, he played 2201 games, batted .295, hit 79 home runs, drove in 856 runs, and stole 352 bases. He had a total of 1010 runs scored and 2254 hits in his career, in 7649 at bats. He ended his career with 3029 total bases. He hit for the cycle on June 23, 1984.
He had a .976 fielding percentage overall, including the 18 games he played not in the outfield.
Postseason
He won a World Series with the Cards in 1982 and lost his following three: in 1985 and 1987 with St. Louis, and in 1990 with Oakland.
In the postseason, he had a .276 batting average, four home runs and 23 RBIs. He had 16 stolen bases, including four in World Series games.
In the third game of the 1982 World Series against the Milwaukee Brewers, he became the third rookie to hit two home runs in a World Series game, joining two New York Yankees: Charlie Keller and one of the announcers for this Series, Tony Kubek. (A fourth rookie, Andruw Jones of the Atlanta Braves, joined them in Game 1 of the 1996 World Series against the Yankees.) Coincidentally, both McGee and Kubek, a native of Milwaukee, performed their feats at Milwaukee County Stadium. Keller's and Kubek's two-homer games also occurred in a Game 3—in the 1939 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds and the 1957 World Series against the Milwaukee Braves, respectively.
Highlights
- 4-time NL all-star with the Cardinals (1983, 1985, 1987, 1988)
- National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1985
- 3-time Gold Glove winner in the outfield
- Silver Slugger award winner in 1985, in the outfield
- Batting titles in 1985 and 1990
- 1st in the league in hits in 1985 with 216
Trivia
- Has a concession stand named after him at Herschel Greer Stadium, home to the Nashville Sounds, for whom McGee played in the minor leagues.
- During the 1982 National League Championship Series, ABC Sports announcer Howard Cosell said on air that McGee bore a slight resemblance to E.T.
- McGee is so loved in St. Louis that a grassroots movement, spearheaded by Tim McKernan of KFNS Radio and insidestl.com[link], is trying to convince the St. Louis Cardinals to retire his number through an online petition. (However, no Cardinal has wore McGee's #51 since his retirement.)
External link
- [Baseball-Reference.com] - career statistics and analysis
- http://www.wmf51.org/
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