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McCovey Memorial Service

I decided to attend the Willie McCovey Celebration of Life at ATT today. There were about 1000 people there (could be double that), but it certainly felt smaller than I would have thought. Therefore, I had the best seats I would ever have at a Giants game, just to the left of home plate in the 4th row. And free bottled water! Here was the program.

Renel Brooks-Moon--An articulate and gracious host, as always.

Larry Baer--Honestly can't remember what he said, but he talked

Mayor London Breed--Standard welcome and proud he is part of our city.

Dave Dravecky--Inspirational, as always, talked about how much love McCovey conveyed at all times and why people are so proud to win the award that bears his name.

Jeff Dudum--This was his Godson. Apparently, his grandfather owned a linen store where all the Giants used to get whatever they would need for their homes. He invited Willie to dinner, and he loved the "home cooking," so they have a multi-generational friendship.

Jeff Idelson--Representing the Hall of Fame. Reminded us that Willie was the only one voted in by the writers his year (the other 2 were veterans committee nominees). He talked about 5 Hall of Fame players from Mobile, Alabama: Hank Aaron, Billy Williams, Ozzie Smith, and Satchel Paige, and the connections between them. Willie chose #44 because of Hank.

Reflections from Former Teammates.

Gaylord Perry--talked about how they spent time in spring training, but it was mostly about himself and his spitball.

Felipe Alou--Very interesting talk about rooming together, buying a car for $80, which they shared, and what a neat freak Willie was.

Orlando Cepeda--The competition, but they never let it get in the way of their friendship.

Joe Amalfitano--I didn't hear most of this one, because I spent the whole time trying to figure out who was speaking. He mostly talked about how they were great friends, but he was a witness, often on the bench, to Stretch's baseball heroics.

Barry Bonds--Mostly about himself, thanking Willie for having the cove named after him so he could hit so many home runs there. Did mention his all time favorite lineup, not of his contemporaries, but of the people he watched play growing up. C-Tom Haller, 1B-McCovey, 2B-Tito Fuentes, SS-Chris Speier, 3B-Jim Ray Hart, LF--himself, CF-Mays, RF-Bobby Bonds. Gaylord on the mound.

Mike Krukow--Brought up the other Willie Mac winners who were there with him--Dravecky, Hundley, Buster, Mike Felder, Shawon Dunston, and 2 I couldn't identify.

Then the fire boat in the cove did a water tribute to "I Left My Heart in SF" to close it. They played Earth, Wind, & Fire's "After the Love Is Gone" as we walked out. And you could buy t-shirts from all kinds of popup vendors on the street just outside.

All in all, an enjoyable, meaningful , if not terribly well attended event.

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