RIP To Yankees Legend Mel Stottlemyre

Very sad news coming out today as we learned that Yankees legend Mel Stottlemyre passed away at the age of 77. Mel had been battling bone marrow cancer for the last 20 years, originally given just five years to live. He was known to my generation as Joe Torre’s incredible pitching coach, who helped guide the staff to four World Series championships. During his playing days he spent his entire career with the Yanks. He was a three time 20-game winner and a five-time all-star. After being in the big leagues for just two months, he out-dueled Hall of Famer Bob Gibson in the 1964 World Series.

As a pitching coach he was Torre’s calming influence and helped lower the staff’s ERA almost a full run when he came on. I feel like we took Mel for granted because ever since he’s left, the pitching coach position has been impossible to solve. When the team unveiled his plaque and the crowd went nuts it was as cool of a moment as you’ll find.

From all accounts he was as good of a man as they come. RIP Mel Stottlemyre