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 presented the winner with the award in a pregame ceremony at AT&T Park near the conclusion of each season until his death on October 31, 2018.
Winners
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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 involving Giants players
editThe 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".
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Willie Mac Award [1] sfgiants.com
- ^ "Ryan Vogelsong selected 2011 "Willie Mac" Award winner" (Press release). SFGiants.com. September 9, 2011. Archived from the original on October 26, 2011.
- ^ Schulman, Henry (September 22, 2000). Honors Burks With Willie Mac Award. sfgate.com.
- ^ a b Schulman, Henry (October 6, 2001). Gardner, Santiago share 2001 Willie Mac Award. sfgate.com
- ^ Draper, Rich (September 30, 2005). Matheny wins Willie Mac Award. sfgiants.com.
- ^ Regan, Becky (September 21, 2007). Molina wins 'Willie Mac' Award. sfgiants.com.
- ^ Haft, Chris (September 26, 2008). Molina repeats as 'Willie Mac' winner. sfgiants.com.
- ^ Haft, Chris (September 25, 2009). Cain wins Giants' Willie Mac Award. sfgiants.com.
- ^ "Andres Torres selected 2010 'Willie Mac' Award winner". Sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com. June 19, 2012. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
- ^ Haft, Chris (September 10, 2011). "Vogelsong voted Willie Mac Award winner". MLB.com.[dead link]
- ^ "Buster Posey is Giants' Willie Mac Award winner". San Jose Mercury News. September 21, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
- ^ "Hunter Pence named 2013 "Willie Mac" Award winner". San Francisco Giants. MLB. September 27, 2013. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved September 27, 2013.
- ^ "Bumgarner wins Willie Mac Award". AP. September 26, 2014.
- ^ Pavlovic, Alex (October 2, 2015). "Rookie Matt Duffy wins 2015 Willie Mac Award". CSN Bay Area. Retrieved October 3, 2015.
- ^ a b Baggarly, Andrew (September 30, 2016). "A tie for Willie Mac Award: Giants split honor between Brandon Crawford, Javier Lopez". Bay Area News Group.
- ^ "Giants Catcher Nick Hundley Wins Prestigious Willie Mac Award". nbcbayarea.com. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
- ^ "Giants' Willie Mac Award surprise: Reliever Will Smith". sfchronicle.com. September 29, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
- ^ "Outfielder Kevin Pillar wins Giants' Willie Mac Award after beginning year with Blue Jays". The Mercury News. September 28, 2019. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
- ^ Schulman, Henry (September 26, 2020). "Giants' Mike Yastrzemski wins 2020 Willie Mac Award in vote of teammates, fans". SF Chronicle. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
- ^ Pavlovic, Alex (October 1, 2021). "Late Night LaMonte Wade Jr. named Willie Mac Award winner". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
- ^ "Wilmer Flores named 2022 Willie Mac Award winner". KNBR. September 30, 2022. Retrieved September 30, 2022.