Willie McGee

Willie Dean McGee (born November 2, 1958) is an American professional baseball coach and former outfielder who is an assistant coach for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB).

He played in MLB for four teams, over 18 seasons.

His .353 batting average was the highest for a National League player since Bill Madlock hit .354 ten years earlier; between 1975 and 1993, McGee's average also was second only to Tony Gwynn's 1987 NL average (.370).

McGee's efforts helped propel the Cardinals into the postseason, where St. Louis defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series.

Upon graduating from Harry Ells High School in Richmond, California, in 1976, McGee was selected in the 7th round (152nd overall) of the June amateur entry draft by the Chicago White Sox.

McGee declined the White Sox contract offer and opted instead to attend Diablo Valley Community College.

A few months later, McGee was selected by the New York Yankees in the 1st round (15th overall) of the 1977 January amateur entry draft.

From 1977 through 1981, McGee played in the Yankees' minor league farm system, ascending to the Class AA level.

During the 1980s, McGee, along with Cardinals teammates Ozzie Smith, Tom Herr, and Vince Coleman, exemplified "Whiteyball", a style of baseball named after Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog.

This style of baseball took advantage of St. Louis' spacious Busch Stadium and placed strong emphasis on fundamentals, pitching, defense, speedy baserunning, and smart situational in-game play.

After defeating the San Francisco Giants in a heated NL Championship Series, Herzog's Cardinals found themselves in their third World Series contest of the 1980s; the Minnesota Twins defeated the Cardinals in the 1987 World Series in seven games.

McGee himself made the last out of the seventh game of the series, grounding out to third base.

McGee was acquired by the St. Louis Cardinals from the Yankees' farm system on October 21, 1981, in a trade for pitcher Bob Sykes.

McGee spent the majority of his 18-year career playing for the Cardinals, helping them win the 1982 World Series with his outstanding performance in Game 3.

A four-time All-Star, McGee accumulated 2,254 hits during his career.

Willie Dean McGee, one of seven children, grew up in a devoutly religious household.

His father Hurdice was both a machinist at the Oakland Naval Yards and a deacon in the Pentecostal church.

Hurdice did not want his son to play any organized sports on Sundays, so McGee slipped out of the house on Sunday afternoons to pursue his passion for sports.

Much later, McGee learned that his father knew that he was sneaking out to play baseball but decided to let him go anyway.

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In 1982, he was briefly assigned to the AAA Louisville Redbirds prior to being called up to St. Louis.

In his rookie year, McGee batted .296, with 4 home runs and 56 runs batted in during the regular season.

In Game 3 of the 1982 World Series, McGee hit two home runs and made a leaping catch of a would-be ninth-inning Gorman Thomas home run that secured the Cardinals 6–2 victory.

McGee became the third rookie to hit two home runs in a World Series game, joining two New York Yankees: Charlie Keller and one of the announcers for the 1982 Series, Tony Kubek.

McGee hit for the cycle on June 23, 1984, in a classic Cardinals vs. Cubs matchup at Wrigley Field.

The game was televised as NBC's Game of the Week.

As the Cards led going into the bottom of the 9th, McGee was announced as NBC's "Player of the Game."

After Chicago's Ryne Sandberg hit two home runs—in the ninth and tenth innings, propelling the Cubs to a 12–11 victory—NBC reported that McGee and Sandberg would share the honor.

He won two batting titles and was named Major League Baseball's 1985 National League MVP.

McGee primarily played center and right field, winning three Gold Glove Awards for defensive excellence.

In 1985, McGee ranked first in the National League in batting average (.353, which is the second highest mark by a switch hitter in NL history), hits (216), and triples (18).

He also ranked third in the National League in runs scored (114) and stolen bases (56).

Additionally, he earned a Gold Glove Award and a Silver Slugger Award and was voted to the National League All-Star team.

For his superb offensive and defensive performance, McGee was named the 1985 NL Most Valuable Player.

However, St. Louis came up short in the 1985 World Series, as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Cardinals in seven games.

The Series was known as the "I-70 Series," named after Interstate 70, the highway that connects St. Louis to Kansas City.

In 1987, Cardinals manager Herzog moved McGee to 5th in the batting order.

McGee responded well to the move and drove in a career-high 105 runs.

Again, McGee was a key component to the Cardinals' success as they enjoyed another fine season finishing as Eastern Division champs.

(Andruw Jones joined them in Game 1 of the 1996 World Series, and Michael Conforto joined them in Game 4 of the 2015 World Series.) McGee was an integral part of the Cardinals' unlikely Series win over the power-hitting Milwaukee Brewers, who were nicknamed "Harvey's Wallbangers" after team manager Harvey Kuenn.