Willie McCovey remembered by fellow players as 'gentle giant,' 'hero'

Tom Gatto

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Willie McCovey remembered by fellow players as 'gentle giant,' 'hero' image

The baseball world on Wednesday hailed the late Willie McCovey for being a Hall of Fame person as well as a Hall of Fame player. McCovey died earlier in the day at age 80, after years of suffering from multiple ailments.

A sample of the testimonials for McCovey:

PHOTOS: Notable sports deaths of 2018

Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins:

Hall of Famer pitcher Jim Palmer:

Longtime Giants outfielder Hunter Pence:

Former Giants coach Tim Flannery, a former big league infielder:

Giants pitcher Will Smith, the 2018 recipient of the annual "Willie Mac" Award given to the most inspirational Giants player:

Outfielder Andrew McCutchen, who played for the Giants in 2018:

Former Giants infielder Kevin Frandsen:

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.