Still Remembered

Willie McCovey's statue greets fans on the way to AT&T.

He retired in 1980, but Giants icon Willie McCovey is still remembered in San Francisco. His WSJ interview harks back to a time when men endured without complaining and triumphed without thinking that they were special:

In early 1954, when I was a junior, I dropped out of high school to help support my family. In addition to my paper route, I tried working as a bus boy in a whites-only restaurant, but I quit after a week. All the things that make you cringe was normal talk then. You took it or you walked away.

I soon found work at a chicken place. I was responsible for washing the chicken parts before they were put out for people to buy.

With 12 y.o. actor Kurt Russell
in 1963 (WSJ photo)

That December, I took the train [from Mobile, AL] to Los Angeles to visit my older brother, Wyatt. It was the first time I was away from Mobile.

I started looking for a job. One day I went to an employment agency, but the line inside was long. It was so hot that I fainted. I was probably dehydrated.

Failing to find a job that day was a blessing. Back at my brother’s apartment, the phone rang. It was Jesse. He was a “bird-dog” who spotted baseball talent for a San Francisco Giants scout named Alex Pompez. He said he told Alex about me. Alex wanted me to report to Florida where the Giants were trying out players.

And the rest is history.