1977 Topps Baseball #547 - Willie McCovey

• This was the season that cemented Willie McCovey's place as a future Hall of Famer. Willie had a bad 1976 season and there was doubt about whether or not he would still be playing in 1977. The Giants invited McCovey to spring training and he made the team.
• McCovey had his best season since 1970. He led the Giants in home runs (28), RBI (86) and slugging percentage (.500). Willie won the NL Comeback Player of the Year award and positioned himself nicely to get to 500 home runs. Willie also won baseball's Hutch Award for overcoming adversity.
• Willie McCovey's SABR biography.
• 1977 Stats: .280, 28 HR, 86 RBI in 141 games
• 1977  Highlights:
• June 27 - Hit two home runs in one inning. One of the home runs was his 17th career grand slam, which set the NL record. The Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds 14-9.
• Sept 7 - Went 2 for 5 and got his 2000th career hit in San Francisco's 6-3 win over the Reds.
• Sept 26 - Hit his 492nd career home run in the 7th inning of a 9-1 Giants win over the LA Dodgers. After the game Willie said he could play through 1980. McCovey almost made it -- he retired in July 1980.
• Other card blogs: 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1980, A Giant Blog