McCovey Cove is the unofficial name of a section of San Francisco Bay beyond the right field wall of Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, named after famed Giants first baseman Willie McCovey. The proper name for the cove is China Basin, which is the mouth of Mission Creek as it meets the bay. The cove is bounded along the north by Oracle Park, with a ferry landing and a breakwater at the northeast end. The southern shore is lined by China Basin Park and McCovey Point. To the east, it opens up to San Francisco Bay, while the west end of the cove is bounded by the Lefty O'Doul Bridge, named after San Francisco ballplayer and manager Lefty O'Doul.
Naming
The name was coined thanks to two sportswriters. Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News wrote an article suggesting naming the body of water after McCovey, though his original suggestions were 'McCovey Channel,' 'McCovey Stream' or 'McCovey Run.' Purdy then noted the more 'lyrical' name of 'McCovey Cove' was suggested by his colleague Leonard Koppett, a writer for the Oakland Tribune. The name did not take long to become very popular, although the moniker has never become official.
Features On game days, fans take to the water of McCovey Cove in boats and even in kayaks, often with fishing nets in the hope of collecting a home run ball. This echoes what used to happen during McCovey's playing days. Before Candlestick Park's upper deck was extended, the area behind right field was occupied by three small bleacher sections and a lot of open space. Kids in those bleachers would gather behind the right field fence when "Stretch" would come to the plate.
Just beyond the wall is a public waterfront promenade. Across the cove from the ballpark is McCovey Point and China Basin Park, featuring a statue of McCovey at the mouth of the Cove. At his feet are small plaques commemorating the winners of the Willie Mac Award, named in McCovey's honor. Along the southern shore of the cove, between McCovey Point and the O'Doul Bridge, is a walkway featuring plaques showing the Opening Day Roster of every Giants team from 1958 through 1999. Just south of the statue of Willie McCovey is Barry Bonds Junior Giants Field, a t-ball sized baseball diamond. (As of 2020, the features in this area have been temporarily warehoused while extensive construction takes place.)
Splash hits
A "splash hit" is recorded when a Giants player hits a home run that lands in McCovey Cove on the fly (foul balls, home runs hit by opposing players, and hits that strike or bounce off the stadium wall or pedestrian path are not counted toward this total). These hits are tallied on an electronic counter on the right field wall. As of August 26, 2026, 111 splash hits have been hit into the Bay by 33 Giants players since the park opened; 35 of those were by Barry Bonds. Eight other Giants have reached the Cove more than twice: Brandon Belt (ten), Pablo Sandoval (eight), Mike Yastrzemski (seven), LaMonte Wade Jr. (six), Denard Span (five), Brandon Crawford (four), Joc Pederson (four), and Rafael Devers (three). Five additional players — Felipe Crespo, Michael Tucker, Ryan Klesko, Aubrey Huff, and Andrés Torres — have done it twice. Nineteen other Giants players have accomplished the feat once. Bonds' splash hit on April 17, 2001 marked his 500th career home run. Carlos Beltrán's splash hit on September 14, 2011 marked his 300th career home run. Tyler Colvin's splash hit on May 12, 2014 was also his first hit for the Giants and occurred in his first at bat at Oracle Park since joining the team. Bonds is the only Giants player to hit the Cove twice in the same game, having done so on May 10, 2000 and May 18, 2002. On June 15, 2021, two different Giants players got splash hits in the same game for the first time: Steven Duggar and Mike Yastrzemski.
Two players have gotten splash hits while playing for the Giants and visiting teams. Ryan Klesko got a splash hit on April 9, 2003, while playing for the San Diego Padres before getting two splash hits as a Giants player during the 2007 season. He was joined by Joc Pederson on May 24, 2022, who became the first player to have a splash hit for three different teams, having previously hit two home runs into the water while a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs.
Five splash hits have been walk-off home runs: Barry Bonds' on August 19, 2003; Brandon Crawford's on April 13, 2014; and Mike Yastrzemski's three splash hits on July 29, 2020, June 19, 2023, and April 9, 2025.
Three splash hits have been grand slams: Bonds' on August 14, 2001, Michael Tucker's on April 9, 2005, and Yastrzemski's on June 15, 2021.
Denard Span and LaMonte Wade Jr. are the only Giants to lead off with a splash hit, doing so on June 13, 2016 and June 2, 2023, respectively.
On September 15, 2024, Heliot Ramos became the first-ever right-handed batter to hit a home run into the water.
Bonds is currently the only Giant to record a splash hit in the postseason. He did so in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 2002 National League Championship Series on October 12, 2002.
When the stadium hosted the 2007 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby, McCovey Cove was heavily featured in promotional materials, and the namesake slugger presented each participant with special bats before the competition. However, the difficulty of hitting McCovey Cove with a home run was shown, as none of the eight sluggers competing were able to hit the water on the fair side of the foul pole, and all three left-handed batters (who are more likely to hit home runs to right field, and thus, to the Cove) were eliminated in the first round of the contest. Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins and Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers were able to hit the Cove once each, but both of their hits were foul balls. However, Fielder eventually did hit McCovey Cove with a fair ball on July 19, 2008, as the 13th visiting player to hit the 17th non-Giants home run into the Cove. It was also his 100th career home run.
The majority of home runs surrendered into McCovey Cove have been off right-handed pitchers. 23 left-handed pitchers have surrendered a splash hit: Rich Rodriguez, Chuck McElroy, Vic Darensbourg, Brian Anderson, Jeriome Robertson, Chuck Finley, Ted Lilly, Ray King, Doug Davis, Joe Kennedy, Hong-Chih Kuo, Trever Miller, Wandy Rodríguez, Rex Brothers, David Price, Drew Smyly, Ranger Suárez, Matt Strahm, Alex Young, Génesis Cabrera, David Peterson, Ray Kerr, and Nick Lodolo.
Four visiting pitchers have each surrendered two splash hits: John Thomson, Liván Hernández, Rodrigo López, and Chris Paddack. López is the only pitcher to give up a splash hit as a member of two visiting teams while pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs. No pitcher has surrendered two splash hits in the same game. However, two pitchers have surrendered splash hits to the same player twice: Thomson to Bonds on May 24, 2001 and August 31, 2001; and López to Pablo Sandoval on July 30, 2009 and August 31, 2011.
The most splash hits the Giants have had in a season is 11 in 2001, nine of which were part of Bonds' successful chase to hit the most home runs in a season. On the flip side, the Giants did not hit any splash hits in 2015 (Cody Asche of the Philadelphia Phillies was the only player that season to accomplish the feat). This splash-hit drought lasted nearly two years; after Brandon Belt hit one on September 25, 2014, he would break the drought himself on June 8, 2016.
No.HitterDateOpponentPitcherInning1 New York Mets6th2 St. Louis Cardinals3rd3 St. Louis Cardinals8th4 Montreal Expos3rd5 San Diego Padres4th6 Cincinnati Reds5th7 Los Angeles Dodgers8th8 Los Angeles Dodgers7th9 Colorado Rockies 3rd10 Arizona Diamondbacks10th11 Arizona Diamondbacks2nd12 Anaheim Angels1st13 Milwaukee Brewers9th14 Philadelphia Phillies6th15 Florida Marlins6th16 Colorado Rockies 8th17 San Diego Padres6th18 Atlanta Braves3rd19 Florida Marlins1st20 Florida Marlins6th21 Arizona Diamondbacks4th22 Houston Astros5th23 St. Louis Cardinals5th24 Houston Astros2nd25 Chicago Cubs6th26Minnesota Twins5th27 Oakland Athletics6th28St. Louis Cardinals1st29 Philadelphia Phillies7th30 Atlanta Braves10th31 Milwaukee Brewers8th32 Milwaukee Brewers5th33 Milwaukee Brewers7th34 Colorado Rockies1st35Colorado Rockies2nd36 St. Louis Cardinals1st37 Cincinnati Reds7th38 Colorado Rockies8th39San Diego Padres3rd40 Los Angeles Dodgers8th41 Arizona Diamondbacks 4th42 St. Louis Cardinals8th43 Houston Astros8th44 Arizona Diamondbacks 6th45 Washington Nationals1st46Cincinnati Reds5th47Chicago Cubs6th48 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim7th49 Philadelphia Phillies 3rd50 Colorado Rockies2nd51 Colorado Rockies8th52 Baltimore Orioles6th53 Florida Marlins6th54 Chicago Cubs4th55 Arizona Diamondbacks2nd56 San Diego Padres6th57New York Mets6th58 Chicago Cubs 4th59San Diego Padres6th60 Colorado Rockies4th61 Houston Astros4th62 Arizona Diamondbacks6th63 Atlanta Braves3rd64 Colorado Rockies10th65Atlanta Braves2nd66 Atlanta Braves8th67Los Angeles Dodgers7th68 San Diego Padres2nd69 Boston Red Sox4th70 Milwaukee Brewers1st71 New York Mets3rd72 Cincinnati Reds1st73 June 10, 2017Minnesota Twins1st74 Miami Marlins9th75 Cleveland Indians5th76 Los Angeles Dodgers1st77 Seattle Mariners5th78 Cincinnati Reds4th79Philadelphia Phillies6th80Philadelphia Phillies6th81 San Diego Padres 4th82 San Diego Padres9th83 San Diego Padres 4th84 Miami Marlins9th85 Colorado Rockies9th86Arizona Diamondbacks2nd87 Arizona Diamondbacks8th88 Philadelphia Phillies3rd89 Houston Astros4th90Arizona Diamondbacks8th91 Atlanta Braves4th92Washington Nationals6th93 St. Louis Cardinals6th94 New York Mets8th95 Milwaukee Brewers3rd96 San Diego Padres9th97 Philadelphia Phillies2nd98 Kansas City Royals4th99 New York Mets1st100 Baltimore Orioles1st101 Chicago Cubs3rd102 San Diego Padres10th103Arizona Diamondbacks5th104 Arizona Diamondbacks7th105 San Diego Padres9th106 Cincinnati Reds10th107 Baltimore Orioles4th108 St. Louis Cardinals3rd109 Colorado Rockies4th110 Colorado Rockies2nd111 Cincinnati Reds5th
Other McCovey Cove hits
59 non-Giants players have hit the water 72 times. Of the visiting players who have hit McCovey Cove, Carlos Delgado, Adam LaRoche, and Max Muncy have performed the feat the most, doing it three times each. The only visiting players that have done so twice are Luis Gonzalez, Cliff Floyd, Carlos González, Curtis Granderson, Bryce Harper, Joc Pederson, and Jack Suwinski. Suwinski is also the only visiting player to hit the Cove twice in the same game, doing so on May 29, 2023. In that game, Suwinski hit his second home run into the water off of second baseman Brett Wisely, who became the first position player to surrender a splash hit. Seven American League players have hit the Cove: David Ortiz, Mitch Moreland, Adam Dunn, Rougned Odor, Shin-Soo Choo, Nathaniel Lowe, and Josh Naylor. Delgado, LaRoche, Harper, and Pederson are the only four players to have hit home runs into McCovey Cove as members of two visiting teams.
Every National League team has had at least one player hit a home run into McCovey Cove. The last club to have a player hit a ball into the water for the first time was the Cincinnati Reds, doing so in April 2021. Of the 15 American League teams, only four (the Boston Red Sox, the Texas Rangers, the Chicago White Sox, and the Cleveland Guardians) have had a player hit a home run into McCovey Cove. No player for the Houston Astros has hit a home run into McCovey Cove since the Astros moved to the American League in 2013.
Luis Gonzalez' splash hit on May 30, 2002, Dioner Navarro's splash hit on July 20, 2011, and Max Muncy's splash hit on June 9, 2019, are the only three instances where a splash hit accounted for the only run of a game.
Brian Giles of the San Diego Padres is the only visitor to lead off with a splash hit, doing so on August 24, 2008.