McCovey Cove

McCovey Cove (2002)

McCovey Cove is the unofficial name of a section of San Francisco Bay beyond the right field wall of AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, named after famed Giants first baseman Willie McCovey. The proper name for the cove is China Basin, which is the mouth of Mission Creek as it meets the bay. The cove is bounded along the north by AT&T Park, with a ferry landing and a breakwater at the northeast end. The southern shore is lined by China Basin Park and McCovey Point. To the east, it opens up to San Francisco Bay, while the west end of the cove is bounded by the Lefty O'Doul Bridge, named after San Francisco ballplayer and manager Lefty O'Doul.

The name was coined thanks to two sportswriters. Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News wrote an article suggesting naming the body of water after McCovey, though his original suggestions were 'McCovey Channel,' 'McCovey Stream' or 'McCovey Run.' Purdy then noted the more 'lyrical' name of 'McCovey Cove' was suggested by his colleague Leonard Koppett, a writer for the Oakland Tribune.^[1] The name did not take long to become very popular, although the moniker has never become official.

On game days, fans take to the water of McCovey Cove in boats and even in kayaks, often with fishing nets in the hope of collecting a home run ball. This echoes what used to happen during McCovey's playing days. Before Candlestick Park's upper deck was extended, the area behind right field was occupied by three small bleacher sections and a lot of open space. Kids in those bleachers would gather behind the right field fence when "Stretch" would come to the plate. There may also be a link to the fact that Willie McCovey was one of only a few that hit home runs over the scoreboard and into a public swimming pool at Montreal's Jarry Park (Parc Jarry), the Expos' home from 1969 to 1976. The fact that balls can be hit into a water basin over the right field wall in San Francisco is somewhat of a tribute/salute to Willie McCovey's legend when he visited Montreal.

Just beyond the wall is a public waterfront promenade, where fans can watch the game through the wall's archways, free of charge, albeit with a somewhat obstructed view. Across the cove from the ballpark is McCovey Point and China Basin Park, featuring a statue of McCovey at the mouth of the Cove. At his feet are small plaques commemorating the winners of the Willie Mac Award, named in McCovey's honor. Along the southern shore of the cove, between McCovey Point and the O'Doul Bridge, is a walkway featuring plaques showing the Opening Day Roster of every Giants team from 1958 through 1999. Just south of the statue of Willie McCovey is Barry Bonds Junior Giants Field, a t-ball sized baseball diamond.^[2]

Giants fans on kayaks in McCovey Cove during the 2012 World Series

Splash hits

Panoramic view of McCovey Cove, August 2010.

"Splash hits" are recorded only when Giants players hit home runs that land in McCovey Cove on the fly. These hits are tallied on an electronic counter on the right field wall. As of September 25, 2014, 68 "splash hits" had been hit into the Bay by Giants players since the park opened; 35 of those were by Barry Bonds.^[3] The only Giants other than Bonds to have reached the Cove more than once are Pablo Sandoval, with seven "splash hits", Brandon Belt, with four, and six players with two each: Felipe Crespo, Michael Tucker, Ryan Klesko, Aubrey Huff, Andrés Torres and Brandon Crawford. Nine other Giants' players have accomplished the feat just once. Carlos Beltrán's "Splash Hit" on September 14, 2011, marked his 300th career home run. Klesko is currently the only player to have splash hits as both a Giant and as an opposing player through the 2012 season. Tyler Colvin's "splash hit" on May 12, 2014, was also his first hit for the Giants and came off his first at bat at AT&T Park since joining the team.^[4]

When AT&T Park hosted the 2007 Home Run Derby, McCovey Cove was heavily featured in promotional materials, and the namesake slugger presented each participant with special bats before the competition. However, the difficulty of hitting McCovey Cove with a home run was shown, as none of the eight sluggers competing were able to hit water, and all four left-handed batters (who are more likely to hit home runs to right field, and thus, to the Cove) were eliminated in the first round of the contest. The only player to hit water was Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers, who hit one into-the-water foul.^[5] Fielder would eventually hit McCovey Cove with a fair ball on July 20, 2008, as the 17th visiting player to hit a home run into the Cove.

No right-handed hitter has ever hit an opposite field home run into McCovey Cove, though Giants catcher Buster Posey has come close several times.

No.	Player	Date	Opponent	Pitcher
1	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (1)	May 1, 2000	New York Mets	Rodriguez, RichRich Rodriguez
2	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (2)	May 10, 2000	St. Louis Cardinals	Benes, AndyAndy Benes
3	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (3)	May 10, 2000	St. Louis Cardinals	Slocumb, HeathcliffHeathcliff Slocumb
4	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (4)	May 24, 2000	Montreal Expos	Thurman, MikeMike Thurman
5	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (5)	July 19, 2000	San Diego Padres	Meadows, BrianBrian Meadows
6	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (6)	September 20, 2000	Cincinnati Reds	Parris, SteveSteve Parris
7	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (7)	April 17, 2001	Los Angeles Dodgers	Adams, TerryTerry Adams
8	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (8)	April 18, 2001	Los Angeles Dodgers	Park, Chan HoChan Ho Park
9	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (9)	May 24, 2001	Colorado Rockies	Thomson, JohnJohn Thomson (1)
10	Crespo, FelipeFelipe Crespo (1)	May 28, 2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	Prinz, BretBret Prinz
11	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (10)	May 30, 2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	Ellis, RobertRobert Ellis
12	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (11)	June 12, 2001	Anaheim Angels	Rapp, PatPat Rapp
13	Crespo, FelipeFelipe Crespo (2)	July 8, 2001	Milwaukee Brewers	Leskanic, CurtisCurtis Leskanic
14	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (12)	August 4, 2001	Philadelphia Phillies	Figueroa, NelsonNelson Figueroa
15	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (13)	August 14, 2001	Florida Marlins	Bones, RickyRicky Bones
16	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (14)	August 31, 2001	Colorado Rockies	Thomson, JohnJohn Thomson (2)
17	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (15)	September 29, 2001	San Diego Padres	McElroy, ChuckChuck McElroy
18	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (16)	May 13, 2002	Atlanta Braves	Millwood, KevinKevin Millwood
19	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (17)	May 18, 2002	Florida Marlins	Penny, BradBrad Penny
20	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (18)	May 18, 2002	Florida Marlins	Darensbourg, VicVic Darensbourg
21	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (19)	September 8, 2002	Arizona Diamondbacks	Anderson, BrianBrian Anderson
22	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (20)	September 28, 2002	Houston Astros	Robertson, JeriomeJeriome Robertson
23	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (21)	October 12, 2002	St. Louis Cardinals	Finley, ChuckChuck Finley
24	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (22)	April 14, 2003	Houston Astros	Miller, WadeWade Miller
25	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (23)	April 30, 2003	Chicago Cubs	Clement, MattMatt Clement
26	Snow, J. T.J. T. Snow	June 5, 2003	Minnesota Twins	Lohse, KyleKyle Lohse
27	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (24)	June 27, 2003	Oakland Athletics	Lilly, TedTed Lilly
28	Cruz, JoseJosé Cruz, Jr.	July 8, 2003	St. Louis Cardinals	Haren, DanDan Haren
29	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (25)	August 8, 2003	Philadelphia Phillies	Mesa, JoséJosé Mesa
30	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (26)	August 19, 2003	Atlanta Braves	King, RayRay King
31	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (27)	September 13, 2003	Milwaukee Brewers	Davis, DougDoug Davis
32	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (28)	April 12, 2004	Milwaukee Brewers	Kinney, MattMatt Kinney
33	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (29)	April 13, 2004	Milwaukee Brewers	Ford, BenBen Ford
34	Tucker, MichaelMichael Tucker (1)	May 30, 2004	Colorado Rockies	Kennedy, JoeJoe Kennedy
35	Pierzynski, A. J.A. J. Pierzynski	July 6, 2004	Colorado Rockies	Stark, DennyDenny Stark
36	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (30)	July 30, 2004	St. Louis Cardinals	Carpenter, ChrisChris Carpenter
37	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (31)	August 3, 2004	Cincinnati Reds	Lidle, CoryCory Lidle
38	Tucker, MichaelMichael Tucker (2)	April 9, 2005	Colorado Rockies	Dohmann, ScottScott Dohmann
39	Winn, RandyRandy Winn	September 14, 2005	San Diego Padres	Williams, WoodyWoody Williams
40	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (32)	September 18, 2005	Los Angeles Dodgers	Kuo, Hong-ChihHong-Chih Kuo
41	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (33)	August 21, 2006	Arizona Diamondbacks	Hernandez, LivanLiván Hernández (1)
42	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (34)	April 18, 2007	St. Louis Cardinals	Franklin, RyanRyan Franklin
43	Klesko, RyanRyan Klesko (1)	May 21, 2007	Houston Astros	Miller, TreverTrever Miller
44	Klesko, RyanRyan Klesko (2)	June 29, 2007	Arizona Diamondbacks	Hernandez, LivanLiván Hernández (2)
45	Bonds, BarryBarry Bonds (35)	August 8, 2007	Washington Nationals	Redding, TimTim Redding
46	Lewis, FredFred Lewis	April 26, 2008	Cincinnati Reds	Belisle, MattMatt Belisle
47	Bowker, JohnJohn Bowker	July 2, 2008	Chicago Cubs	Dempster, RyanRyan Dempster
48	Torres, AndresAndrés Torres (1)	June 15, 2009	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	Lackey, JohnJohn Lackey
49	Sandoval, PabloPablo Sandoval (1)	July 30, 2009	Philadelphia Phillies	Lopez, RodrigoRodrigo López (1)
50	Sandoval, PabloPablo Sandoval (2)	August 29, 2009	Colorado Rockies	Marquis, JasonJason Marquis
51	Huff, AubreyAubrey Huff (1)	May 1, 2010	Colorado Rockies	Betancourt, RafaelRafael Betancourt
52	Huff, AubreyAubrey Huff (2)	June 16, 2010	Baltimore Orioles	Guthrie, JeremyJeremy Guthrie
53	Torres, AndresAndrés Torres (2)	July 28, 2010	Florida Marlins	Sosa, JorgeJorge Sosa
54	Sandoval, PabloPablo Sandoval (3)	August 12, 2010	Chicago Cubs	Wells, RandyRandy Wells
55	Sandoval, PabloPablo Sandoval (4)	September 30, 2010	Arizona Diamondbacks	Enright, BarryBarry Enright
56	Sandoval, PabloPablo Sandoval (5)	July 4, 2011	San Diego Padres	Frieri, ErnestoErnesto Frieri
57	Schierholtz, NateNate Schierholtz	July 8, 2011	New York Mets	Dickey, R. A.R. A. Dickey
58	Sandoval, PabloPablo Sandoval (6)	August 31, 2011	Chicago Cubs	Lopez, RodrigoRodrigo López (2)
59	Beltran, CarlosCarlos Beltrán	September 14, 2011	San Diego Padres	Latos, MatMat Latos
60	Belt, BrandonBrandon Belt (1)	September 27, 2011	Colorado Rockies	White, AlexAlex White
61	Belt, BrandonBrandon Belt (2)	June 14, 2012	Houston Astros	Rodríguez, WandyWandy Rodríguez
62	Belt, BrandonBrandon Belt (3)	September 4, 2012	Arizona Diamondbacks	Kennedy, IanIan Kennedy
63	Sandoval, PabloPablo Sandoval (7)	May 12, 2013	Atlanta Braves	Medlen, KrisKris Medlen
64	Crawford, BrandonBrandon Crawford	April 13, 2014	Colorado Rockies	Brothers, RexRex Brothers
65	Colvin, TylerTyler Colvin	May 12, 2014	Atlanta Braves	Floyd, GavinGavin Floyd
66	Crawford, BrandonBrandon Crawford (2)	May 14, 2014	Atlanta Braves	Carpenter, DavidDavid Carpenter
67	Ishikawa, TravisTravis Ishikawa	September 12, 2014	Los Angeles Dodgers	Correia, KevinKevin Correia
68	Belt, BrandonBrandon Belt (4)	September 25, 2014	San Diego Padres	Cashner, AndrewAndrew Cashner

Other McCovey Cove hits

30 non-Giants players have hit the cove 38 times. Of visiting players who have hit the cove, Carlos Delgado, Carlos González and Adam LaRoche have performed the feat the most, doing it three times each. Former Major League baseball players Luis Gonzalez and Cliff Floyd are the only other visiting players to do so twice. Rick Ankiel hit the water on the fly in the 11th inning of Game 2 of the 2010 National League Division Series on October 8, 2010; his run would go on to be the winning run for the Atlanta Braves (this was only the 2nd home run ball hit into McCovey Cove in a postseason game at the time, the first being by Barry Bonds on October 12, 2002, in the National League Championship Series). David Ortiz, Mitch Moreland, and Adam Dunn are the only three American League players to hit the cove. Bryce Harper hit the water on the fly in the 7th inning of Game 4 of the 2014 National League Division Series on October 7, 2014 to tie the game.

Kevin Correia is the only pitcher to have given up a splash hit both as a Giant and as a visiting pitcher (while pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014).

No.	Hitter	Team	Date	Pitcher
1	Hundley, ToddTodd Hundley	Los Angeles Dodgers	June 30, 2000	Nen, RobbRobb Nen
2	Gonzalez, LuisLuis Gonzalez (1)	Arizona Diamondbacks	September 23, 2000	Estes, ShawnShawn Estes
3	Grace, MarkMark Grace	Arizona Diamondbacks	May 28, 2001	Worrell, TimTim Worrell
4	Gonzalez, LuisLuis Gonzalez (2)	Arizona Diamondbacks	May 30, 2002	Rueter, KirkKirk Rueter
5	Klesko, RyanRyan Klesko	San Diego Padres	April 9, 2003	Jensen, RyanRyan Jensen
6	Choi, Hee-SeopHee-Seop Choi	Florida Marlins	April 30, 2004	Correia, KevinKevin Correia (1)
7	Patterson, CoreyCorey Patterson	Chicago Cubs	August 7, 2004	Walker, TylerTyler Walker
8	Floyd, CliffCliff Floyd (1)	New York Mets	August 21, 2004	Tomko, BrettBrett Tomko (1)
9	Branyan, RussellRussell Branyan	Milwaukee Brewers	April 23, 2005	Tomko, BrettBrett Tomko (2)
10	Walker, LarryLarry Walker	St. Louis Cardinals	July 8, 2005	Schmidt, JasonJason Schmidt
11	Delgado, CarlosCarlos Delgado (1)	Florida Marlins	July 23, 2005	Hennessey, BradBrad Hennessey
12	Floyd, CliffCliff Floyd (2)	New York Mets	April 25, 2006	Wright, JameyJamey Wright
13	Delgado, CarlosCarlos Delgado (2)	New York Mets	April 26, 2006	Morris, MattMatt Morris (1)
14	Delgado, CarlosCarlos Delgado (3)	New York Mets	May 9, 2007	Morris, MattMatt Morris (2)
15	LaRoche, AdamAdam LaRoche (1)	Pittsburgh Pirates	August 11, 2007	Lincecum, TimTim Lincecum (1)
16	Berkman, LanceLance Berkman	Houston Astros	May 15, 2008	Chulk, VinnieVinnie Chulk
17	Fielder, PrincePrince Fielder	Milwaukee Brewers	July 19, 2008	Matos, OsirisOsiris Matos
18	Giles, BrianBrian Giles	San Diego Padres	August 24, 2008	Correia, KevinKevin Correia (2)
19	Montero, MiguelMiguel Montero	Arizona Diamondbacks	September 29, 2009	Sanchez, JonathanJonathan Sánchez
20	Ortiz, DavidDavid Ortiz	Boston Red Sox	June 27, 2010	Lincecum, TimTim Lincecum (2)
21	LaRoche, AdamAdam LaRoche (2)	Arizona Diamondbacks	August 27, 2010	Lincecum, TimTim Lincecum (3)
22	LaRoche, AdamAdam LaRoche (3)	Arizona Diamondbacks	August 28, 2010	Romo, SergioSergio Romo
23	Ankiel, RickRick Ankiel	Atlanta Braves	October 8, 2010	Ramirez, RamonRamón Ramírez
24	Navarro, DionerDioner Navarro	Los Angeles Dodgers	July 20, 2011	Lincecum, TimTim Lincecum (4)
25	Moreland, MitchMitch Moreland	Texas Rangers	June 9, 2012	Vogelsong, RyanRyan Vogelsong (1)
26	González, CarlosCarlos González	Colorado Rockies	April 8, 2013	Bumgarner, MadisonMadison Bumgarner (1)
27	Brown, DomonicDomonic Brown	Philadelphia Phillies	May 6, 2013	Bumgarner, MadisonMadison Bumgarner (2)
28	McCann, BrianBrian McCann	Atlanta Braves	May 10, 2013	Cain, MattMatt Cain (1)
29	González, CarlosCarlos González (2)	Colorado Rockies	May 25, 2013	Zito, BarryBarry Zito
30	Jones, GarrettGarrett Jones	Pittsburgh Pirates	August 22, 2013	Cain, MattMatt Cain (2)
31	González, CarlosCarlos González (3)	Colorado Rockies	April 11, 2014	Bumgarner, MadisonMadison Bumgarner (3)
32	Grandal, YasmaniYasmani Grandal	San Diego Padres	April 30, 2014	Hudson, TimTim Hudson (1)
33	Freeman, FreddieFreddie Freeman	Atlanta Braves	May 12, 2014	López, JavierJavier López
34	Granderson, CurtisCurtis Granderson	New York Mets	June 8, 2014	Lincecum, TimTim Lincecum (5)
35	Dunn, AdamAdam Dunn	Chicago White Sox	August 13, 2014	Peavy, JakeJake Peavy
36	Dickerson, CoreyCorey Dickerson	Colorado Rockies	August 27, 2014	Hudson, TimTim Hudson (2)
37	Inciarte, EnderEnder Inciarte	Arizona Diamondbacks	September 9, 2014	Petit, YusmeiroYusmeiro Petit
38	Harper, BryceBryce Harper	Washington Nationals	October 7, 2014	Strickland, HunterHunter Strickland
39	Asche, CodyCody Asche	Philadelphia Phillies	July 11, 2015	Vogelsong, RyanRyan Vogelsong (2)

References

1. Purdy, Mark (May 9, 1999). "Honoring Him Wouldn't Take A Stretch". The San Jose Mercury News.
2. McCovey Point | SFGiants.com: Ballpark
3. "Splash Hits". San Francisco Giants official MLB site. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
4. Kroner, Steve (May 12, 2014). "Tyler Colvin powers Tim Lincecum's gem for Giants". SFGate. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
5. Vlad captures first Derby crown | MLB.com: News

External links

• Unraveling the scientific secrets of the elusive 'Splash Hit' (San Francisco Chronicle)
• Splash Hits: SFGiants.com

Coordinates: 37°46′38″N 122°23′17″W / 37.77722°N 122.38806°W