R. I. P. Mel Stottlemyre of the strike-throwing Stottlemyres
Mel Stottlemyre, 77, passed away on Monday. He was the father of former Blue Jays RHP Todd Stottlemyre and Mel Stottlemyre, Jr., pitching coach of the Marlins. Mel pitched 11 years for the Yankees, and coached in the Bronx for 10 seasons, winning five World Series. He also coached with the Mets and the Mariners, 23 seasons in all. The Yankees dedicated a plaque in Monument Park in Stottlemyre’s honor on Old-Timers’ Day 2015.
Originally published Sept. 30, 1998
FATHER AND CHILD REUNION
By Bob Elliott
Canadian Baseball Network
NEW YORK _ Plenty of fathers took their sons to dinner Monday night in the city that never sleeps. More went with their sons to the opener of the Texas-New York divisional series last night.
But the father-son relationship in the Stottlemyre family was a little different. Father Mel, the former Yankees pitching ace, turned right entering Yankee Stadium and headed for the home clubhouse to don pinstripes.
Son Todd turned left to put on his Texas Rangers uniform as he prepared to start the opener of the American League division playoff series.
There are plenty of heart-tugging father-son stories in baseball: Ken Griffey and Ken Jr. together with Seattle, hitting home runs in the same game; Hal McRae managing his son Brian with the Royals; Jose Cruz Jr. hitting homers for the Jays while his father Jose coaches with Houston.
This is different. Baseball -- especially in the post-season -- is an information game. And who knows more about Todd Stottlemyre, pitcher, than Mel Stottlemyre, dad first and Yankees pitching coach second.
“When we had our meetings, Mel was asked questions about Todd and he gave the answers,” manager Joe Torre said before last night’s game. “It’s not easy to separate personal for professional. It’s not going to be easy for Mel, I’m sure it’s not going to be easy for Jeannie.”
The first time I met Jean Stottlemyre, Mel’s wife and Todd’s mother, she was in tears, alone, in the lobby of Yankee Stadium in 1989. Having no idea who the woman was, I walked over to see what the problem was.
“It’s my son, Todd,” Jean said. “I had seen him pitch before, but never here. He looked so much like his dad, the way he stood on the mound, the way he carried himself, I felt like I was 25 again, sitting in the wives section ... but I was watching my son.”
Jean Stottlemyre regained her composure. They were “happy tears” that day -- Father’s Day -- in the Bronx.
Maybe the uniform number had something to do with it.
Stottlemyre had worn No. 36 as a rookie with the Jays in 1988, but switched to No. 30, the number pop wore with the Yanks.
“I was leading 9-0 that day with two out in the ninth and Matt Nokes hit a homer to spoil the shutout,” Todd said with a laugh. “Funny thing was, five days before I was beating Detroit 8-0 and Nokes hit a double off the wall to break that shutout. The same guy in back-to-back starts with different teams.”
In those days, pop was pitching coach of the Mets. In 1996 he joined the Yankees.
As a Jay, Stottlemyre was always good at poking fun at himself, whether it was starting the 15-14 win in Game 4 of the 1993 World Series or at the victory parade telling Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell “to kiss my ass” after Rendell suggested, “Even I can hit Stottlemyre.”
The knock on Stottlemyre was he was “too emotional” and he says former Jay Dave Stewart taught him to channel his anger.
It took a while, but the message sank in.
He says he has learned “to try easier” and was 2-1 with a 2.10 ERA in September. The father-and-son duo are the only combo to win more than 100 major-league games each.
It wasn’t the first time the son pitched against his father’s team, as he started here Aug. 15.
“That was an emotional day,” said Todd, who gave up four runs in the first. He was tagged for five runs in six innings, but was the winner as Texas won 16-5.
“I felt awkward because there was a lot of focus on it almost being a family day,” he said.
In post-season the son is 2-4, with a 7.45 ERA. Pop was in Philly that night in 1993. He says it was painful to watch.
“I know how my family is dealing with this, but I’m not going to tell you,” Mel said.
The game might not tug, but tear at Mel’s heart. Does he hope his pitchers are down in the ninth and win on a homer off Rangers closer John Wetteland?
Years after leaving the Jays, Stottlemyre would say Jays pitching coach Galen Cisco was his second-favourite pitching coach. Cisco took it as a compliment.