the Series, so I played where I thought he would hit the ball." McCovey still had bad memories of it years later. "I broke in with a 4-for-4 my rookie year against a Hall of Fame pitcher, Robin Roberts," he recalled. "I hit more grand slams [18] than anybody in National League history. I hit more home runs [521] than any lefthanded hitter in the National League. But that out is what many people remember about me....I would rather be remembered as the guy who hit the ball six inches over Bobby Richardson's head." Sporting News ranked the catch the 13th most memorable moment in baseball history in 1999, and Charles Schulz famously referenced it in a Peanuts comic strip, where Charlie Brown yells, "Why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball just three feet higher?" 1963-66: Extending his streaks On April 23, 1963, Richardson had three hits, two RBI, and two runs scored in a 7–6 victory over the Senators. His father suffered a stroke in May, then died on July 17. Richardson missed 11 games during the year visiting him and helping get his affairs in order. He had a season high of four hits in a game twice in quick succession, on July 4 in the first game of a doubleheader and on July 6. He again represented the Yankees in the All-Star Game. On September 5, he singled against Steve Ridzik, stole second base, and scored on a Roger Maris hit due to an error by shortstop Ed Brinkman to tie a game with the Senators at 2 in the sixth inning. The Yankees went on to win 3–2 in 12 innings. After setting a career high with eight home runs the year before, Richardson hit three in 1963, all in Yankee losses. In 151 games, Richardson batted .265 with 72 runs scored and 48 RBI. He led the league in at bats (630) for the second year in a row, finished seventh with 167 hits and tied three other players for seventh with 15 stolen bases. Richardson again garnered AL MVP votes, finishing tenth this time. He won the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award, given by Gehrig's Columbia University fraternity to the major leaguer who best demonstrates Gehrig's character. In Game 1 of the 1963 World Series, which the Los Angeles Dodgers swept in four games, Richardson struck out three times against Sandy Koufax—his only three-strikeout game