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:
Batting average
Slugging average
Bases per out
Runs scored per 500 plate appearances
Runs batted in per 500 plate appearances
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.
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American League top batters (series so far)
1961-1965: Mickey Mantle
1966-1970: Frank Robinson
National League top batters (series so far)
1961-1965: Willie Mays
1966-1970: Willie McCovey
American League top 20 batters (1966-1970)
1. Frank Robinson, G 694, H 754, HR 151, BA .303, BPO 1.008
2. Carl Yastrzemski, G 801, H 856, HR 163, BA .297, BPO .999
3. Harmon Killebrew, G 744, H 665, HR 190, BA .267, BPO 1.014
4. Al Kaline, G 637, H 627, HR 101, BA .287, BPO .885
5. Tony Oliva, G 743, H 889, HR 107, BA .305, BPO .814
6. Frank Howard, G 775, H 769, HR 190, BA .278, BPO .900
7. Reggie Jackson, G 490, H 411, HR 100, BA .250, BPO .895
8. Boog Powell, G 725, H 693, HR 141, BA .276, BPO .859
9. Willie Horton, G 648, H 640, HR 127, BA .276, BPO .796
10. Reggie Smith, G 609, H 635, HR 77, BA .279, BPO .774
11. Tony Conigliaro, G 532, H 526, HR 104, BA .267, BPO .776
12. Norm Cash, G 711, H 625, HR 116, BA .265, BPO .803
13. Rod Carew, G 438, H 498, HR 21, BA .307, BPO .716
14. Rico Petrocelli, G 715, H 657, HR 116, BA .259, BPO .757
15. Jim Northrup, G 708, H 690, HR 96, BA .272, BPO .743
16. Sal Bando, G 537, H 487, HR 60, BA .260, BPO .778
17. Paul Blair, G 708, H 641, HR 68, BA .269, BPO .718
18. Dick McAuliffe, G 648, H 588, HR 84, BA .249, BPO .793
19. Brooks Robinson, G 791, H 793, HR 103, BA .261, BPO .680
20. Roy White, G 636, H 583, HR 55, BA .269, BPO .779
National League top 20 batters (1966-1970)
1. Willie McCovey, G 734, H 727, HR 187, BA .295, BPO 1.089
2. Roberto Clemente, G 679, H 877, HR 103, BA .332, BPO .911
3. Henry Aaron, G 770, H 844, HR 194, BA .294, BPO .967
4. Dick Allen, G 655, H 699, HR 162, BA .291, BPO 1.004
5. Willie Mays, G 697, H 684, HR 123, BA .283, BPO .865
6. Rico Carty, G 525, H 562, HR 71, BA .322, BPO .869
7. Ron Santo, G 792, H 807, HR 142, BA .283, BPO .880
8. Tony Perez, G 733, H 789, HR 125, BA .292, BPO .811
9. Bobby Bonds, G 396, H 439, HR 67, BA .276, BPO .902
10. Johnny Bench, G 486, H 502, HR 87, BA .281, BPO .781
11. Billy Williams, G 811, H 933, HR 150, BA .291, BPO .837
12. Pete Rose, G 768, H 1,014, HR 69, BA .323, BPO .833
13. Willie Stargell, G 683, H 666, HR 137, BA .280, BPO .863
14. Jim Wynn, G 725, H 690, HR 141, BA .265, BPO .911
15. Joe Torre, G 718, H 796, HR 105, BA .298, BPO .795
16. Orlando Cepeda, G 752, H 803, HR 117, BA .286, BPO .791
17. Rusty Staub, G 781, H 831, HR 88, BA .296, BPO .851
18. Jim Ray Hart, G 621, H 588, HR 96, BA .276, BPO .771
19. Mack Jones, G 604, H 472, HR 86, BA .258, BPO .835
20. Bobby Tolan, G 549, H 527, HR 49, BA .283, BPO .758