Willie Mac Award

Willie McCovey (44), for whom the award was named.

The Willie Mac Award is named in honor of Willie McCovey. It has been presented annually since 1980 to the most inspirational player on the San Francisco Giants, as voted upon by Giants players, coaches, training staff, and more recently, Giants fans.[1][2] McCovey personally presents the winner with the award in a pregame ceremony at AT&T Park near the conclusion of each season.

Winners

YearPlayerPosition
1980Clark, JackJack ClarkRF
1981Herndon, LarryLarry HerndonLF
1982Morgan, JoeJoe Morgan2B
1983Evans, DarrellDarrell Evans1B
1984Brenly, BobBob BrenlyC
1985Krukow, MikeMike Krukow (1)P
1986Krukow, MikeMike Krukow (2)P
1987Speier, ChrisChris Speier2B
1988Uribe, JoséJosé UribeSS
1989Dravecky, DaveDave DraveckyP
1990Bedrosian, SteveSteve BedrosianP
1991Thompson, RobbyRobby Thompson2B
1992Felder, MikeMike FelderCF
1993Manwaring, KirtKirt ManwaringC
1994(not awarded due to strike)
1995Leiter, MarkMark LeiterP
Carreon, MarkMark Carreon1B
1996Dunston, ShawonShawon DunstonSS
1997Snow, J. T.J. T. Snow (1)1B
1998Kent, JeffJeff Kent2B
1999Benard, MarvinMarvin BenardCF
2000Burks, EllisEllis BurksRF[3]
2001Gardner, MarkMark GardnerP[4]
Santiago, BenitoBenito SantiagoC[4]
2002Bell, DavidDavid Bell3B
2003Grissom, MarquisMarquis GrissomCF
2004Snow, J. T.J. T. Snow (2)1B
2005Matheny, MikeMike MathenyC[5]
2006Vizquel, OmarOmar VizquelSS
2007Molina, BengieBengie Molina (1)C[6]
2008Molina, BengieBengie Molina (2)C[7]
2009Cain, MattMatt CainP[8]
2010Torres, AndrésAndrés TorresCF[9]
2011Vogelsong, RyanRyan VogelsongP[10]
2012Posey, BusterBuster PoseyC[11]
2013Pence, HunterHunter PenceRF[12]
2014Bumgarner, MadisonMadison BumgarnerP[13]
2015Duffy, MattMatt Duffy3B[14]
2016López, JavierJavier LópezP[15]
Crawford, BrandonBrandon CrawfordSS[15]

Plaques with the names of each winner are placed in the ground surrounding the statue of Willie McCovey on the southern shore of China Basin, unofficially known as McCovey Cove.

Matt Duffy was the first rookie winner of the award.

Similar MLB awards

The Hutch Award is for the "active player who best exemplifies the fighting spirit and competitive desire to win". Only Omar Vizquel and Dave Dravecky have won both the Willie Mac Award and the Hutch Award, although Willie McCovey won the Hutch Award in 1977.

Vizquel was a finalist in 2007 for the MLBPAA Heart & Hustle Award, which honors the player who "best embodies the values, spirit and tradition of the game".

The Catfish Hunter Award is for the Oakland Athletics team member "whose play on the field and conduct in the clubhouse best exemplifies the courageous, competitive and inspirational spirit demonstrated by the late ... pitcher, Jim "Catfish" Hunter."

See also

References

  1. Willie Mac Award sfgiants.com
  2. "Ryan Vogelsong selected 2011 "Willie Mac" Award winner" (Press release). SFGiants.com. September 9, 2011.
  3. Schulman, Henry (September 22, 2000). Honors Burks With Willie Mac Award. sfgate.com.
  4. 1 2 Schulman, Henry (October 6, 2001). Gardner, Santiago share 2001 Willie Mac Award. sfgate.com
  5. Draper, Rich (September 30, 2005). Matheny wins Willie Mac Award. sfgiants.com.
  6. Regan, Becky (September 21, 2007). Molina wins 'Willie Mac' Award. sfgiants.com.
  7. Haft, Chris (September 26, 2008). Molina repeats as 'Willie Mac' winner. sfgiants.com.
  8. Haft, Chris (September 25, 2009). Cain wins Giants' Willie Mac Award. sfgiants.com.
  9. "Andres Torres selected 2010 'Willie Mac' Award winner | SFGiants.com: Official Info". Sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com. June 19, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  10. Haft, Chris (September 10, 2011). "Vogelsong voted Willie Mac Award winner". MLB.com.
  11. "Buster Posey is Giants' Willie Mac Award winner". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  12. "Hunter Pence named 2013 "Willie Mac" Award winner". San Francisco Giants. MLB. September 27, 2013. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
  13. "Bumgarner wins Willie Mac Award". AP. September 26, 2014.
  14. Pavlovic, Alex (October 2, 2015). "Rookie Matt Duffy wins 2015 Willie Mac Award". CSN Bay Area. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
  15. 1 2 Baggarly, Andrew (September 30, 2016). "A tie for Willie Mac Award: Giants split honor between Brandon Crawford, Javier Lopez". Bay Area News Group.


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