President Obama Pardons Giants Legend Willie McCovey

The most surprising and noteworthy prison sentence that Barack Obama commuted today was that of Chelsea Manning, the former Army official who was seven years into a 35-year sentence for leaking documents to WikiLeaks in 2010. Among the other 208 people whose sentences Obama commuted were Puerto Rican activist Oscar López Rivera as well as San Francisco Giants legend ( and cove namesake) Willie McCovey.

In 1995, McCovey was convicted of avoiding taxes on $70,000 worth of income that he made signing autographs and participating in memorabilia shows. Fellow Hall of Famer Duke Snider was also convicted in the case, and McCovey got two years probation and a $5,000 fine.

McCovey, now 79, works as a senior adviser for the Giants. He made one World Series with the Giants (which he unfortunately ended with a hard lineout at the end of Game 7). McCovey had a real penchant for smacking the dick off the ball, a skill which is the Giants commemorated by naming the cove right outside of their ballpark after him.

h/t Ben Jacobs