RIP Mel Stottlemyre

Mel Stottlemyre, New York baseball legend, dead at 77 - NY Daily News

 

Quite a long and distinguished career in baseball. Love this bit:

On June 11, 1974, Stottlemyre was pitching against the California Angels at Yankee Stadium when, on a curve ball to Frank Robinson, he felt something pop in his shoulder. He had torn his rotator cuff. In those days, they didn’t have the technology to either detect or correct it. Instead, he was told to shut it down until the following spring when Yankee GM Gabe Paul assured him he’d be given all the time he needed until May 1 before the Yankees made a decision on him. But once Paul learned they’d have to pay him $30,000 in severance if they kept him on the roster after March 31, they released him. Stottlemyre’s career, 164-139, 2.97 ERA, in which nine of his 11 seasons he logged 250 innings or more, was over. Even though Steinbrenner was under suspension that year, and it was Paul’s decision to so rudely cut an honored and popular Yankee, Stottlemyre remained bitter at the only organization he’d known, especially after Steinbrenner promised – but never paid him - $40,000 to go to kinesiology doctor friend of his at Michigan State to have his shoulder worked on.

Stottlemyre did not forgive them until the fall of 1995 when Yankee VP Arthur Richman, who’d been traveling secretary with the Mets when he was pitching coach for them from 1983-93, called him on behalf of Steinbrenner to tell him the Yankees wanted to hire him as pitching coach. Stottlemyre was at first skeptical, but a few days later Steinbrenner himself called and apologized for the way he’d been treated in 1974. Stottlemyre accepted the job, but was able to also extract his pound of satisfaction by getting Steinbrenner to agree to an additional $40,000 signing bonus.
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Honestly, I thought he was much older, maybe bc he looked like he was 77 back as the Yankees' pitching coach. RIP.

 

Pitched in the World Series as a rookie in 1964. Yankees never made another WS the rest of his career, which is hard to imagine.

 

Preceded in death by Dwight Gooden’s Arm.

 

Outstanding pitcher on some terrible Yankee teams. He and Pedro Ramos won the AL pennant for them in 1964.

 

Kuchenberg. Mel. Who's got next?

 

As I recall, he kinda got blamed for semi-messing Gooden up by tinkering with his mechanics because Gooden wasn’t very good at holding runners on, and by having Gooden throw change-ups.

Still, he had one heckuva coaching career after his playing career. RIP

 

24 complete games in 1969.

All of MLB had 42 complete games in 2018.

 

Marichal and Gaylord Perry combined for 53 complete games in 69 for the Giants