Sam Mele

Infobox MLB retired
name=Sam Mele
position=Outfielder/Manager


bgcolor1=#c6011f
bgcolor2=#072764
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1922|1|21
city-state|Astoria|New York
deathdate=
debutdate= April 15
debutyear= 1947
debutteam= Boston Red Sox
finaldate=September 16
finalyear=1956
finalteam=Cleveland Indians
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.267
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=80
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=544
teams=As Player
* Boston Red Sox (1947-1949, 1954-1955)
* Washington Senators (1949-1952)
* Chicago White Sox (1952-1953)
* Baltimore Orioles (1954)
* Cincinnati Redlegs (1955)
* Cleveland Indians (1956)As Manager
* Minnesota Twins (1961-1967)
highlights=
* American League pennant: 1965
* Managerial record: 524-436

Sabath Anthony "Sam" Mele (born January 21, 1922 in Astoria, New York) is a former right fielder, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. As a manager, he led the Minnesota Twins to their first American League championship in by|1965.

Mele attended New York University, where he excelled as a basketball player before service in World War II. During his playing days (1947-56), Mele saw duty with six major league clubs: the Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians, batting .267 with 80 home runs in 1,046 games. He batted and threw righthanded.

Mele became pilot of the Twins on June 23, by|1961, the team's first season in Minnesota after moving from Washington. He had been a coach for the Senators in by|1959 and by|1960 under Cookie Lavagetto. With the '61 Twins struggling, Mele filled in as manager while Lavagetto took a seven-game leave of absence in early June. He then formally succeeded to the job later in the month. The Twins moved up two places in the standings under Mele, finishing seventh.

But fortified by young players such as Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, Jim Kaat, Zoilo Versalles and Bob Allison, the Twins challenged the powerful New York Yankees in by|1962 before placing second. After finishing third in by|1963, the team suffered through a poor season in by|1964, leading to speculation that Mele would be replaced by his new third base coach, Billy Martin.

However, the 1965 Twins broke the Yankees' stranglehold on the AL pennant. Led by Versalles, who was named the American League's Most Valuable Player, batting champion Tony Oliva, and pitcher Mudcat Grant, who won 21 games, Minnesota won 102 games and coasted to the league title. (The Yankees finished sixth.) Minnesota took a two-game lead in the 1965 World Series, but the superior pitching of the Los Angeles Dodgers' Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Claude Osteen took its toll, and Los Angeles won in seven games.

The by|1966 Twins won 13 fewer games, and ended up as runners-up to the Baltimore Orioles. Mele also clashed publicly with two of his coaches, including pitching tutor Johnny Sain. [United Press International, "Kaat Calls Loss of 2 Coaches Big Error," quoted in [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20B15F93958107B93C5A9178BD95F428685F9 The New York Times, Oct. 7, 1966] ] The club swung a major trade for pitcher Dean Chance during the offseason and unveiled star rookie Rod Carew in by|1967. Hopes and expectations were high in Minnesota, but when the Twins were only .500 after 50 games, Mele was fired. His successor was not Martin, as had been anticipated, but longtime minor league manager Cal Ermer.

Mele's record as a manager was 524-436 (.546). He never managed again, but returned to the Red Sox as a scout for 25 years.

ee also

* Chicago White Sox all-time roster
* List of Major League Baseball doubles champions

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/melesa01.shtml Baseball-Reference.com] - career managing record and playing statistics
* [http://www.cooloftheevening.com/sam_mele.htm Cool of the Evening: The 1965 Minnesota Twins] - Web bio by author of Twins' book