Mel Stottlemyre

Mel Stottlemyre
Pitcher
Born: November 13, 1941 (1941-11-13) (age 69) Hazleton, Missouri
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 12, 1964 for the New York Yankees
Last MLB appearance
August 16, 1974 for the New York Yankees
Career statistics
Win–loss record	164–139
Earned run average	2.97
Strikeouts	1,257
Teams
As player New York Yankees (1964–1974) As coach New York Mets (1984–1993) Houston Astros (1994–1995) New York Yankees (1996–2005) Seattle Mariners (2008)
Career highlights and awards
5× All-Star selection (1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970) 5× World Series champion (1986, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000)

Melvin Leon Stottlemyre, Sr. (born November 13, 1941 in Hazleton, Missouri) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and pitching coach. He played 11 years in the Major Leagues, all of them with the New York Yankees. After his playing career, Stottlemyre worked as pitching coach with the New York Mets, Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners.

Baseball career

As a player

Called up midseason in 1964, Stottlemyre went 9–3 to help the Yankees to their fifth consecutive pennant while being on the cover of The Sporting News. In the World Series, Stottlemyre faced Bob Gibson three times in a seven-game Series. Stottlemyre bested Gibson in Game 2 to even the series, and got a no-decision in Game 5, but lost the decisive Game 7 as the Cardinals won the Series. A sinker-ball specialist, Stottlemyre would pitch 10 more seasons with the Yankees, winning 164 games, including three 20-win seasons; but although the 1964 Series marked the Yankees' 29th pennant in 44 seasons, the ensuing decade would be the franchise's lowest period since the 1910s, with the Yankees not reaching the postseason at all. Stottlemyre was released by the Yankees after the 1974 season with a rotator-cuff injury, and he retired from playing.

Known as a solidly-hitting pitcher, Stottlemyre once hit a rare inside-the-park grand slam.

Coaching years

In 1977, Stottlemyre re-emerged in baseball as a roving instructor for the Seattle Mariners. After five seasons in that position, he was hired by the New York Mets as the pitching coach for ten years (including the 1986 World Series championship team) and then followed by a two-year stint as the Houston Astros pitching coach.

In 1996, Stottlemyre joined the Yankees coaching staff along with the incoming manager Joe Torre. Under Torre, Stottlemyre lowered the team ERA from 4.65 in 1996 to 3.84 in 1997 and then to 3.82 in 1998. Under Stottlemyre, the Yankee team averaged an ERA of 4.23 from 1996 to 2005. After 10 seasons and four World Series victories, Stottlemyre resigned his coaching position on October 12, 2005, following the Yankees' ALDS defeat by the Angels. He cited personal disagreements with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner among his reasons for leaving and cited Steinbrenner's comment that after the division series was over, he had congratulated Angels manager Mike Scioscia. Stottlemyre 's response was: "My first thought was, 'What about Joe?' Joe did a hell of a job, too. To congratulate the other manager and not congratulate your own, after what he's done this year, I laughed." The Yankees replaced Stottlemyre with former Yankees pitcher Ron Guidry.

Stottlemyre was named pitching coach of the Seattle Mariners under manager John McLaren at the beginning of the 2008 season and was retained by interim manager Jim Riggleman after McLaren's firing, but was dismissed after the season ended.

Personal life

Stottlemyre was raised in the town of Mabton in southeastern Washington state.^[1]

His sons Todd and Mel Jr. both followed their father by becoming major league pitchers. His other son, Jason, died while in a coma at the young age of 11.

Stottlemyre was diagnosed with multiple myeloma but is in remission; he is an avid supporter of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.

Stottlemyre currently resides in Issaquah, Washington.

He wrote an autobiography entitled Pride and Pinstripes, published in 2007.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
• List of second generation MLB players

References

1. ^ Stottlemyre, Mel; Harper, John (2007). Pride and Pinstripes. New York: HarperCollins. p. 15. ISBN 9780061174094. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference

Preceded by Bill Monbouquette	New York Mets Pitching Coach 1984 – 1993	Succeeded by Bob Apodaca (1996)
Preceded by Nardi Contreras	New York Yankees Pitching Coach 1996 – 2005	Succeeded by Ron Guidry

Persondata
Name	Stottlemyre, Mel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 13, 1941
Place of birth	Hazleton, Missouri
Date of death
Place of death