Willie McCovey was never the biggest star on the San Francisco Giants — that honor was reserved for Willie Mays — but he was the club’s best hitter for half a decade.
McCovey, in fact, was the top-rated batter in the entire National League from 1966 through 1970, based on my analysis of six key statistics.
I began my series of five-year breakdowns of Modern Era hitters last week, revealing the leaders for the period of 1961-1965 in the American League (Mickey Mantle) and National League (Mays).
Subsequent half-decades will be covered on successive Fridays, with 1966-1970 as the focus of today’s installment. The series will run until we reach the end of the Modern Era with a story about the span from 2016 through 2020.
McCovey, a rangy first baseman, smashed 187 homers from 1966 through 1970, a total surpassed in the NL only by Henry Aaron’s 194. But McCovey was more effective at piling up bases, as reflected by his ratio of 1.089 bases per out (BPO), compared to Aaron’s .967.
The typical National League batter posted a BPO of .699 during the same five-year period. The American League average was even lower, .691.
Only four big-league batters attained more than one base per out in 1966-1970, and Frank Robinson was one of them. Robinson, who ranked third among National League batters in the previous half-decade, was traded to the Orioles in 1966. He won first place in the American League’s batting standings for the half-decade that began the year he arrived in Baltimore.
The runners-up for the half-decade were Roberto Clemente and Aaron in the National League, Carl Yastrzemski and Harmon Killebrew in the American.
My rankings include every batter who crossed the minimum threshold of two appearances per game, the equivalent of 1,620 appearances in five 162-game seasons.
A total of 67 batters in the American League and 75 in the National League qualified for the 1966-1970 application of my Five-Year Test, which ranks hitters according to their performances in these six statistical categories:
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Batting average
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Slugging average
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Bases per out
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Runs scored per 500 plate appearances
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Runs batted in per 500 plate appearances
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Wins above replacement (WAR) per 500 plate appearances
Click here to learn more about the Five-Year Test. Or look below to see my lists of the top 20 batters in each league from 1966 through 1970.
Each batter below is followed by a breakdown of his 1966-1970 statistics: games, hits, home runs, batting average, and bases per out. The first three stats were not part of the Five-Year Test, though they’re still interesting to consider.
You know the drill by now. This series will continue next Friday (July 1) with my rankings for 1971-1975.
A new installment will arrive in your email each Tuesday and Friday morning
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1. Frank Robinson, G 694, H 754, HR 151, BA .303, BPO 1.008
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2. Carl Yastrzemski, G 801, H 856, HR 163, BA .297, BPO .999
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3. Harmon Killebrew, G 744, H 665, HR 190, BA .267, BPO 1.014
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4. Al Kaline, G 637, H 627, HR 101, BA .287, BPO .885
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5. Tony Oliva, G 743, H 889, HR 107, BA .305, BPO .814
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6. Frank Howard, G 775, H 769, HR 190, BA .278, BPO .900
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7. Reggie Jackson, G 490, H 411, HR 100, BA .250, BPO .895
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8. Boog Powell, G 725, H 693, HR 141, BA .276, BPO .859
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9. Willie Horton, G 648, H 640, HR 127, BA .276, BPO .796
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10. Reggie Smith, G 609, H 635, HR 77, BA .279, BPO .774
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11. Tony Conigliaro, G 532, H 526, HR 104, BA .267, BPO .776
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12. Norm Cash, G 711, H 625, HR 116, BA .265, BPO .803
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13. Rod Carew, G 438, H 498, HR 21, BA .307, BPO .716
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14. Rico Petrocelli, G 715, H 657, HR 116, BA .259, BPO .757
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15. Jim Northrup, G 708, H 690, HR 96, BA .272, BPO .743
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16. Sal Bando, G 537, H 487, HR 60, BA .260, BPO .778
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17. Paul Blair, G 708, H 641, HR 68, BA .269, BPO .718
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18. Dick McAuliffe, G 648, H 588, HR 84, BA .249, BPO .793
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19. Brooks Robinson, G 791, H 793, HR 103, BA .261, BPO .680
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20. Roy White, G 636, H 583, HR 55, BA .269, BPO .779
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1. Willie McCovey, G 734, H 727, HR 187, BA .295, BPO 1.089
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2. Roberto Clemente, G 679, H 877, HR 103, BA .332, BPO .911
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3. Henry Aaron, G 770, H 844, HR 194, BA .294, BPO .967
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4. Dick Allen, G 655, H 699, HR 162, BA .291, BPO 1.004
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5. Willie Mays, G 697, H 684, HR 123, BA .283, BPO .865
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6. Rico Carty, G 525, H 562, HR 71, BA .322, BPO .869
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7. Ron Santo, G 792, H 807, HR 142, BA .283, BPO .880
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8. Tony Perez, G 733, H 789, HR 125, BA .292, BPO .811
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9. Bobby Bonds, G 396, H 439, HR 67, BA .276, BPO .902
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10. Johnny Bench, G 486, H 502, HR 87, BA .281, BPO .781
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11. Billy Williams, G 811, H 933, HR 150, BA .291, BPO .837
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12. Pete Rose, G 768, H 1,014, HR 69, BA .323, BPO .833
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13. Willie Stargell, G 683, H 666, HR 137, BA .280, BPO .863
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14. Jim Wynn, G 725, H 690, HR 141, BA .265, BPO .911
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15. Joe Torre, G 718, H 796, HR 105, BA .298, BPO .795
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16. Orlando Cepeda, G 752, H 803, HR 117, BA .286, BPO .791
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17. Rusty Staub, G 781, H 831, HR 88, BA .296, BPO .851
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18. Jim Ray Hart, G 621, H 588, HR 96, BA .276, BPO .771
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19. Mack Jones, G 604, H 472, HR 86, BA .258, BPO .835
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20. Bobby Tolan, G 549, H 527, HR 49, BA .283, BPO .758
