So Long, Mel. You Were One Of The Good Ones

A quick and sad note and I know I’m late to the game, but I had family first yesterday… and in the world of family, and even Mel… it’s understandable. He probably would have told me not to worry.

Mel Stottlemyre died folks.  A true lover of this game and an important staple.  An unspoken ambassador and just a nice, all around guy.  It’s sad. Something you don’t even want to write about, but you have to because he was so important, and just so special, he needs to be honored.

The New York Times always does this best, and so here’s some from them…

“Mel Stottlemyre, the Yankees’ pitching ace in their lean years of the late 1960s and early ’70s and later the longtime pitching coach for Mets and Yankees teams that won the World Series, died on Sunday in a Seattle hospital. He was 77. 

His wife, Jean Stottlemyre, said the cause was complications of multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer for which he had been treated for many years. At his death he also had the flu and pneumonia, she said. Stottlemyre, who grew up in Washington State, lived in the Seattle area. Stottlemyre made his last visit to Yankee Stadium in June 2015, when the Yankees surprised him by dedicating a Monument Park plaque in his honor when he attended their annual Old-Timers’ Day gathering. 

The tribute came after their former second baseman Willie Randolph received a plaque as scheduled. Stottlemyre, walking with the aid of a cane, told the crowd, 

‘It’s been a thrill over the years for me to wear this uniform.’ He said that if it was to be his last Old-Timers’ Day, he would ‘start another baseball club, coaching up there, whenever they need me.’”

Quite the player, the coach and definitely the man. He will be missed in Yankeeland.  He’ll be missed in this wonderful game of baseball.

Rest in peace, old friend.