Mel Stottlemyre had the misfortune of being one of the best Yankees’ players during one of the worst periods in Yankees’ history. Through no fault of Stottlemyre’s own, the Yankees slide down the standings during his tenure, mostly as a result of the disastrous CBS ownership period. He has the status of being on the shortlist of best ever Yankees’ players who never won a World Series.
However, Stottlemyre then had a coaching career that more than made up for it. He later became the pitching coach on
the Yankees’ 1900s and 2000s dynasty, arguably getting more fame for that than his playing career. However, he was great at both and on this — what would’ve been his 85th birthday — let’s remember a legendary Yankee.
Melvin Leon “Mel” Stottlemyre
Born: November 13, 1941 (Hazleton, MO)
Died: January 13, 2019 (Seattle, WA)
Yankees Tenure: 1964-74
One of five children born to Vernon and Lorene Ellen Stottlemyre, Mel Stottlemyre was born in Missouri 1941. His father was a pipefitter and moved the family around to various states around the country before they finally settled in Washington state. There, Mel developed a love of baseball from his father, who would take him and his brother to local semi-pro games.
Early in his life, Stottlemyre’s playing of the sport was mostly limited to games in the backyard with his brother. He didn’t really play much organized ball until high school. Stottlemyre began to shine as a pitcher and shortstop for Mabton High School, where he was a multi-sport start and the student body president.
His high school career got Stottlemyre a scholarship to Yakima Valley Junior College, but things did not start great there. His first season was supposed to be in 1960, but poor grades led him to be declared academically ineligible. He eventually got that straightened out and returned for 1961, where he impressed and caught the eye of major league teams.
The then Milwaukee Braves gave Stottlemyre a workout, but came away unimpressed and rejected him for “not throwing hard enough.” Their loss would be the Yankees’ gain. Yankees scout Eddie Taylor signed Stottlemyre to the pitcher’s childhood favorite team in 1961.
After making quick work of the lower levels of the minors, Stottlemyre struggled in Triple-A in 1963. Having previously been one of the hottest prospects in the Yankees’ system, that led to him not getting an invite to big league spring training for 1964. However, after starting the season in the Triple-A bullpen, he battled his way back into the rotation and put in a monster season. By the end of the year, with Whitey Ford dealing with injury issues, Stottlemyre got a big league callup. Making his debut in August, Stottlemyre appeared in 13 games in 1964, putting up a 2.04 ERA in 96 innings. He helped rejuvenate that Yankee team, allowing them to eke out the AL pennant.
In that year’s World Series, manager Yogi Berra entrusted the rookie to make three World Series starts. Stottlemyre outdueled Bob Gibson in a Game 2 victory. Gibson and the Cardinals would get the better of Stottlemyre and the Yankees in the other two — including Game 7 — but there’s no way to not be impressed by what the 22-year-old had done that year.
Unfortunately, those would be the only postseason games Stottlemyre ever pitched in, through no fault of his own. Over the course of his 11-year career, Stottlemyre put up a 2.97 ERA, a 3.36 FIP, 40.7 rWAR, and 34.0 fWAR. He was named an All-Star on five occasions and won 20 games on three occasions. However, he also finished with double digit losses on eight occasions, as the pieces of the 1950s/early ‘60s dynasty aged out and a lot of the young non-Stottlemyre players couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain.
Eventually, the years of being one of the team’s few hopes and throwing 250+ innings caught up to Stottlemyre. Just as the team was beginning to turn the corner under a new crop of youngsters and was getting purchased by George Steinbrenner, Stottlemyre tore his rotator cuff. While he attempted to make a comeback, the team eventually released him in March 1975. He decided to end his playing career, just barely missing out on some great year in franchise history at either end of his years in New York.
Having moved back to Washington, Stottlemyre got into coaching with the Mariners in the early 1980s. The Mets eventually brought him back to New York as their pitching coach in 1984. Mentoring the likes of a young Dwight Gooden, Stottlemyre helped the Mets to their famous 1986 World Series championship. After that, he spent some years with the Astros before Joe Torre brought him back into the fold after being hired as Yankees’ manager in 1996.
Over the next many years, Stottlemyre finally got to be part of postseason success in the Bronx. As the Yankees’ pitching guru, he helped them to World Series championships in 1996, ‘98, ‘99, and 2000. He eventually retired after the 2005 season, in part likely due to frustrations over George Steinbrenner’s George Steinbrenner-ness. After a stint in the Diamondbacks’ organization, he returned to the dugout for one season as Mariners’ pitching coach in 2008 before retiring again.
Stottlemyre had two sons also make the big leagues as pitchers in Mel Jr. and Todd. Todd had a very solid 14-year career, winning the World Series with the 1992 and ‘93 Blue Jays. Mel Jr. only briefly played in the majors, but he followed his dad into the pitching coach field. He was mostly recently the Marlins’ pitching coach, departing that role after the 2024 season.
Mel himself returned to the pacific northwest after his baseball career was over. Having previously beaten the disease, Stottlemyre eventually passed away from cancer in 2019 at age 77. Thankfully before that, he got to return to Yankee Stadium on occasions. That included a 2015 appearance, where he gave an emotional speech after the team surprised him with a Monument Park plaque.
Mel Stottlemyre held two roles in his years with the Yankees and was great at both of them. He probably would’ve been great at other ones too.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
