Sometime in the hours before each San Francisco home World Series game, Willie McCovey will slip inside AT&T Park. For 19 of his 22 big-league seasons, the Bunyonesque, Hall-of-Fame first baseman pounded home runs for his beloved Giants.
McCovey was equally cherished by his teammates—not just for his rote power, but for his generosity and spirit.
Since 1980, McCovey’s last year as a player, the team has conferred the Willie Mac Award to the player who best exemplifies the big man’s character. It bears special meaning to each honoree because the voters are teammates along with the Giants’ manager and coaches.
Bengie Molina, one of only two players to win back-to-back Willie Mac Awards, will be down on the field, sharing the diamond with the Giants. But this year the burly, 36-year-old catcher will be in the Texas Rangers’ dugout.
The Giants traded him to the Rangers July 1 to open up a spot in the lineup for their top prospect, catcher and Rookie of the Year candidate Buster Posey.
Another player might have been bitter. But Molina says he understood the move. “They did the right thing,” he told The San Francisco Chronicle. “Buster is a better catcher than I am.”
The night he learned of the trade, Molina rode with the Giants players to the team motel.
“I stood up in the aisle and faced the team,” he wrote in Behind the Mask, his personal blog. “I just want to say thanks for being such great teammates…I’m really going to miss you guys. You have what it takes to win this thing, and I’m going to be watching as much as I can.
"You guys have my number. Even if I’m not your teammate any more, I’ll always be your friend.”
The regard in which the Giants players hold him was clear. They stood up and applauded. “He’s been half the reason I got here,” said Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum, the World Series Game One starter.
Although he and his wife are still close to some of Giants players and their spouses, they won’t be socializing with them during this series. And, make no mistake, Molina will be playing to beat Lincecum and the Giants.
But for him, some things are more important than winning. His former teammates, he says, will always remain his “brothers.”
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