The San Francisco Giants announced earlier today that their Hall of Fame first-baseman and home-run slugger, Willie McCovey, has passed away at the age of 80. He died “peacefully,” after battling “ongoing health issues.” In the press release, McCovey’s wife Estela McCovey contributed: “Every moment he will be terribly missed. He was my best friend and husband. Living life without him will never be the same.”
According to a profile on McCovey, written for the SF Gate, Willie met Estela in 2010 – she was his nurse while he was recovering from his fourth back surgery, and she had never seen a baseball game. About their relationship, Estela remarked: “He accepts me for who I am, just a simple person and a nobody.” But she wasn’t “nobody” to him. He had already been in a wheelchair for several years by the time Estela came into his life to provide at-home rehab, but the love McCovey had for Estela seemed to motivate him to want to walk again. The SF Gate profile quotes him saying (about his relationship with Estela): “We got lots of plans to do, so I’ve got to get well… Plans to live and do things. Go to Hawaii and play golf.”
Though most of their trips out of the house were so he could watch the Giants’ home games as their senior advisor, their relationship was characterized by “love and laughter.” After years of partnership, and many games watched in a press-booth box at AT&T Park, the two were married this past August, and celebrated their nuptials in the Giants’ clubhouse.
That wedding to Estela was Willie McCovey’s second marriage. He married Karen Billingsley in 1964, and an announcement of the marriage in the St. Louis Sporting News (dated November 14, 1964) reveals that he carried Karen “across the threshold of his new home” in San Francisco, California on October 31st (exactly 54 years before his death). Before divorcing two years later, they had their daughter Allison, who, according to her LinkedIn profile, has been Chief Operating Officer of the San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project, Inc. since March 2011. About her father, Allison said: “I am grateful that my father passed peacefully surrounded by his family and friends while listening to his favorite sports channel.” He was grandfather to Allison’s three children, Raven, Phillip, and Marissa; Giants President and Chief Executive Officer said “Willie’s greatest passion was his family.”
With their tweet announcing the loss of their legend, San Francisco included the hashtag “#Forever44.” Quickly, fans of “Willie Mac” and the baseball community tweeted their sadness over the news, and sympathies for McCovey’s family.
According to the San Francisco Giants’ press release:
A public celebration of Willie’s life will be announced at a later date. Fans who wish to offer their condolences may send letters to the McCovey family care of San Francisco Giants, attention Forever 44, 24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco, CA 94107. Or they may email Forever44@sfgiants.com.
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GettyWillie McCovey waves to the crowd before the Giants game against the St. Louis Cardinals at AT&T Park.
