Perhaps the most feared slugger in the National League through the 1960’s, Willie McCovey inspired even more fear from pitchers than some of his Hall of Fame contemporaries like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron or Willie Stargell. He played nineteen seasons for the San Francisco Giants, and three more for the San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics, between 1959 and 1980. McCovey was called “the scariest hitter in baseball” by pitcher Bob Gibson, an assessment with which Reggie Jackson later concurred. McCovey's powerful swing generated 521 career home runs, 231 of which he hit in Candlestick Park, a stadium notoriously problematic for long-ball hitters and the most hit there by any player, and included a home run on Sept. 16, 1966 described as the longest ever hit in that stadium.

McCovey’s 1960 Topps rookie card is both highly coveted and notoriously condition sensitive. The offered example is as sharp as they come, with amazing print quality, great centering, and overall pack-fresh appearance. Among more than 3,200 McCovey rookies that have been assessed by PSA to date, this stands among only 28 examples that have garnered MINT 9 status with none graded higher.