Willie McGee Marquee

b. November 2, 1958 · St. Louis Cardinals 1982–1990, 1996–1999, Oakland Athletics 1990, San Francisco Giants 1991–1994, Boston Red Sox 1995

St. Louis traded him to Oakland on August 29, 1990 while he was hitting .335, which was the best average in the National League. He had enough plate appearances to qualify and nobody caught him, so the league's best average belongs to a man who spent September in the other one. He hit .274 for the Athletics over the same weeks.

He was the Most Valuable Player in 1985 with 216 hits, 18 triples, 56 stolen bases and a .353 average, and he had won a World Series with the Cardinals three years earlier, hitting two home runs in one game of it as a rookie. Eighteen seasons gave him 2,254 hits, 352 stolen bases, 94 triples and a .295 average, with three Gold Gloves and four All-Star selections.

He ran with a bent-over gait that made him look older and slower than he was, and the crowd in St. Louis regarded him with an affection reserved for very few players. He came back to the Cardinals for four seasons at the end. Two ballots gave him 26 votes and then 12.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	4	1983, 1985, 1987, 1988
Gold Glove	3	1983, 1985, 1986
Player of the Week	2	1985, 1990
Most Valuable Player	1	1985
Player of the Month	1	1985
Silver Slugger	1	1985
The Sporting News All-Star	1	1985
The Sporting News Player of the Year	1	1985

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1982	STL	123	422	43	125	12	8	4	56	12	58	24	.296
1983	STL	147	601	75	172	22	8	5	75	26	98	39	.286
1984	STL	145	571	82	166	19	11	6	50	29	80	43	.291
1985	STL	152	612	114	216	26	18	10	82	34	86	56	.353
1986	STL	124	497	65	127	22	7	7	48	37	82	19	.256
1987	STL	153	620	76	177	37	11	11	105	24	90	16	.285
1988	STL	137	562	73	164	24	6	3	50	32	84	41	.292
1989	STL	58	199	23	47	10	2	3	17	10	34	8	.236
1990	OAK/STL	154	614	99	199	35	7	3	77	48	104	31	.324
1991	SFG	131	497	67	155	30	3	4	43	34	74	17	.312
1992	SFG	138	474	56	141	20	2	1	36	29	88	13	.297
1993	SFG	130	475	53	143	28	1	4	46	38	67	10	.301
1994	SFG	45	156	19	44	3	0	5	23	15	24	3	.282
1995	BOS	67	200	32	57	11	3	2	15	9	41	5	.285
1996	STL	123	309	52	95	15	2	5	41	18	60	5	.307
1997	STL	122	300	29	90	19	4	3	38	22	59	8	.300
1998	STL	120	269	27	68	10	1	3	34	14	49	7	.253
1999	STL	132	271	25	68	7	0	0	20	17	60	7	.251
Career	—	2201	7649	1010	2254	350	94	79	856	448	1238	352	.295

On this day & linked events

1958

Born November 2, 1958

San Francisco, CA, USA

1982

Major-league debut: Willie McGee

Willie McGee made a major-league debut on May 10, 1982.

1984

Willie McGee Hits for the Cycle, 1984

Willie McGee hit for the cycle for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Chicago Cubs on June 23, 1984.

1999

Final major-league game: Willie McGee

Willie McGee played a final major-league game on October 3, 1999.

Image: Monowi, public domain