hey Chip remember when I was able to find the date and box score of the Oscar v. NYK game you went to?
Well I just pulled a similar trick:
Giants great Willie McCoveyMy extremely minor Willie McCovey story.
As a kid I went to a doubleheader with my brother and father.
We were in the lower section, and as things dragged along in the 2nd game, lots of folks had left. So my brother and I moved down and went eventually to the front row, where we got the bright idea of pounding on the top of the Padres dugout (possibly to the tune of Let's Go Mets). After a while Willie McCovey pops out from the dugout and yells, "Hey! you kids ..." My brother starts asking him to give us a ball, I guess hoping for a bribe to leave them alone. Willie McC: "Get out of here" as he scans around for some security. And Willie was a big guy, so we hustled back up a couple dozen rows to where our seats were. My father mildly curious asked, "What was that all about?" He hadn't really been paying attention to what we were up to. My brother (excitedly): "We just talked to Willie McCovey." I marveled at that positive spin, since I thought we were about to get kicked out of the stadium or otherwise get in trouble from some direction. But it was the 70's and nobody really cared. I had just turned 9 and my brother had just turned 12.
Through the magic of the internet, a quick 20 seconds of research confirms this occurred Sunday May 5, 1974. I remembered it was NYMets v. SD Padres and McCovey only spent '74 & '75 with San Diego. And easy to spot
their only doubleheader in those two years v. NYM. No wonder folks started leaving. Both teams had losing records and the 2nd game went into extra innings with the Mets winning in the 10th. Both games had a good deal of scoring late. Mets record was 10-15 after splitting that doubleheader. This after
almost winning the World Series the year before.
Anyway, Willie McCovey had a terrific career and was still affiliated with the Giants. Nice tribute when they moved into a new stadium and named the water beyond the outfield fence McCovey's Cove.