Former ace, longtime Mets, Yankees pitching coach Stottlemyre dies at 77
Mel Stottlemyre, the Yankees ace-turned-pitching coach for both New York teams, has died at the age of 77, the Yankees announced on Monday.
The Yankees said Stottlemyre died of complications from multiple myeloma, an incurable bone marrow cancer.
“Beyond his tremendous accomplishments as a player and coach, Mel Stottlemyre was beloved for his class, dignity and fighting spirit,” Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said in a statement. “His contributions to different eras in our history guided us through difficult times and brought us some of our greatest all-time success. As a result, Mel’s popularity transcended generations, all of whom thought of him as their own. His plaque in Monument Park will forever serve to celebrate the significance of his legacy.
“His passing is a tremendous loss to the Yankees and all those in the baseball community, and we extend our deepest condolences to Mel’s wife, Jean, and the entire Stottlemyre family.”
Stottlemyre spent his entire career as a pitcher with the Yankees from 1964 to 1974 before joining the Mets a decade later as pitching coach. He helped develop some of the best pitchers in team history, including Dwight Gooden and Ron Darling. Stottlemyre won his first of five World Series titles as a coach with the Mets in 1986.
After two seasons with the Astros, Stottlemyre returned home, serving as Joe Torre’s pitching coach with the Yankees from 1996-2005, helping to establish the dynasty that won four World Series championships in five years, and working with pitchers such as Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens and David Cone. A tense relationship with owner George Steinbrenner eventually led to Stottlemyre’s resignation in 2005. He coached one last season with the Mariners in 2008 before his retirement.
“I am sorry to hear of Mel’s passing,” Torre said in a statement. “Mel was a role model to us all and the toughest man I have ever met. Sometimes a manager hires a friend to be their coach but
with Mel, as with Zim (Don Zimmer), he was my coach who became a dear friend and someone who became very special to me. I send my deepest sympathies to his wife Jean, boys Mel Jr. & Todd as well as the entire Stottlemyre family.”
For Stottlemyre, though, it all began in that first season in 1964 when he was called up in August and immediately made a name for himself, helping the Yankees clinch their fifth straight American League pennant and battling Bob Gibson three times in the seven-game 1964 World Series against the Cardinals, eventually faltering in Game 7. He was 9-3 that season with a 2.06 ERA.
Stottlemyre was a five-time All Star with the Yankees, but pitched during a dark period in the franchise’s history. The Yankees did not make the playoffs from 1965-75. He led the American League in complete games, batters faced and innings pitched in 1965, and went 20-12 in 1966, the first of three 20-win seasons. Stottlemyre tore his rotator cuff in June 1974 and was released by the Yankees before the beginning of the 1975 season, ending his pitching career. He finished his career at 164-139 with a 2.97 ERA, 1,257 strikeouts, 152 complete games and 40 shutouts.
In 2000, while still coaching with the Yankees, Stottlemyre revealed that he had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer with a 50-percent, five-year survival rate but no cure. During the 2015 Old-Timers’ Day, the Yankees surprised Stottlemyre — who had to get medical clearance to travel to New York — with a plaque and spot in Monument Park. He was surrounded by family, walked to home plate by Pettitte and presented the plaque by Torre.
“Today, in this stadium, there is no one happier to be on this field than myself,” he said then, holding back tears. “I’ve been battling a dreaded disease for quite some time. I’ve had so much help from my family over here and I can’t say enough about you people, how supportive you have been for me over the years,” he said.
“If I never get to come to another Old-Timers’ game, I will take these memories that I have today.”