Mel Stottlemyre Biography
Mel Stottlemyre (Melvin Leon Stottlemyre Sr.) was an American professional baseball pitcher and pitching coach. Stottlemyre played for 11 seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, and coached for 23 seasons. He was a five-time World Series champion and five-time MLB All-Star, as a coach.
Mel Stottlemyre Age – How Old is Mel Stottlemyre?
Stottlemyre was born on 13 November 1941, in Hazleton, Missouri, Washington, United States. He died on 13 January 2019 at the age of 77.
Mel Stottlemyre Height
He stood at a height of 6 feet tall.
Mel Stottlemyre Family
Mel was born in Hazleton, Missouri, to Vernon and Lorene Ellen (Miles) Stottlemyre. He was the third of five children.
Mel Stottlemyre Wife – Mel Stottlemyre Family
Stottlemyre was married to Jean, and together they had three children. Two of his sons, Todd and Mel Jr., followed their father’s footsteps by becoming major league pitchers. His other son, Jason, died of leukemia at the age of 11.
He resided in Issaquah, Washington together with his family.
Mel Stottlemyre Net Worth
Stottlemyre had an estimted net worth of about $1 million to $5 million.
Mel Stottlemyre Baseball career
As a player (1964-74)
Stottlemyre attended Mabton High School in Mabton, Washington, and Yakima Valley Community College, where he pitched in American Legion Baseball. A scout for the New York Yankees discovered him pitching for Yakima’s baseball team, and signed him to a contract with no signing bonus on June 10, 1961.
Stottlemyre was assigned by The Yankees to the Harlan Smokies of the Rookie-level Appalachian League. After appearing in eight games, the Yankees promoted him to the Auburn Yankees of the Class D New York–Penn League, and he appeared in seven games for Auburn.
He pitched to a 17–9 win–loss record and a 2.50 earned run average (ERA) with the Greensboro Yankees of the Class B Carolina League in 1962, and in 1963 he was promoted to the Richmond Virginians of the Class AAA International League.
Stottlemyre alternated between starting and relieving for Richmond, before Ralph Houk, the Yankees’ general manager, insisted that Stottlemyre be used exclusively as a starting pitcher. In the 1964 season, he recorded a 1.42 ERA, the best in the International League.
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 1964 World Series, he faced Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals three times in the seven-game Series. He 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.
He was named to the American League’s (AL) roster for the 1965 Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star Game, though he did not appear in the game.
Stottlemyre won 20 games in the 1965 season, and led the AL with 18 complete games, 291 innings pitched, and 1,188 batters faced.
He appeared in the 1966 MLB All-Star Game. Stottlemyre led the league with 20 losses. He won 20 games in the 1968 and 1969 seasons.
He threw 40 shutouts in his 11-season career, the same number as Hall of Fame lefty Sandy Koufax, which ties for 44th best all-time. Eighteen of those shutouts came in a three-season span from 1971-73. The Yankees released him before the 1975 season.
Stottlemyre retired with 164 career wins and a 2.97 ERA.
Known as a solid-hitting pitcher, on July 20, 1965, he once hit a rare inside-the-park grand slam. On September 26, 1964, he recorded five base hits in five at bats.
Mel Stottlemyre Coaching years (1984–2008)
In 1977, Stottlemyre re-emerged in baseball as a roving instructor for the Seattle Mariners. He spent five seasons in that position, and in November 1983 he was hired by the New York Mets as their pitching coach.
Stottlemyre served in the role for ten years (including the 1986 World Series championship team) and then followed by a two-year stint as the Houston Astros pitching coach.
Mel Stottlemyre New York Yankees (1996–2005)
In 1996, he joined the Yankees coaching staff along with the incoming manager Joe Torre. Under Torre, he 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. The pitching staff was regarded as a major factor in the team’s dynasty years, when they won four World Series Championships in five years.
On October 12, 2005, Stottlemyre resigned his coaching position after 10 seasons, following the Yankees’ ALDS defeat by the Angels.
Stottlemyre 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.
Mel Stottlemyre Seattle Mariners (2008)
At the beginning of the 2008 season, Stottlemyre was named pitching coach of the Seattle Mariners under manager John McLaren, and was retained by interim manager Jim Riggleman after McLaren’s firing.
Stottlemyre was dismissed after the season ended. Following the season, he retired from baseball.
Mel Stottlemyre Honors
October 12, 1964, was declared, to be “Mel Stottlemyre Day” by The mayor of Mabton, Washington.
In 2012, Stottlemyre was inducted into the Washington State American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame.
At Old-Timers’ Day on June 20, 2015, the Yankees dedicated a plaque in Monument Park in Stottlemyre’s honor.
Mel Stottlemyre Cancer – Mel Stottlemyre Health
In 2000, Stottlemyre was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. In remission for several years, he was an avid supporter of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. In 2011, the cancer reappeared.
Mel Stottlemyre Cause of Death
On January 13, 2019, Stottlemyre succumbed to his illness at the age of 77.