Born in Laurinburg, North Carolina, Covington attended Hillside High School in Durham, where he was a football star. He didn\'t begin playing baseball until 1950 but his skills caught the eye of a scout for the Boston Braves. Covington was offered a contract and assigned to the Class C Eau Claire Bears in 1952. After working his way up the minor league ladder, he was a call-up who sparked the 1957 Braves down the stretch and helped them to win the World Series.\n', '

Covington hit .284, with 21 home runs, and drove in 65 runs, in just 96 games over the second half of the 1957 season. His inspired play continued in the Series against the New York Yankees, highlighted by two defensive plays that preserved wins for Lew Burdette.\n', '

In an 11-year career, Covington was a .279 hitter, with 131 homers, and 499 runs batted in, a .337 on-base percentage, and a .466 slugging percentage, in 1,075 games. His best season came in 1958, when he posted career numbers in average (.330), home runs (24), and RBI (74).\n', '

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