Mel Stottlemyre passes away at age 77

Long-time Mets pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre passed away on Monday at the age of 77. He served as the Mets’ pitching coach from 1984 to 1993 and oversaw the famous young pitching staff that helped deliver the franchise’s second World Series title in 1986.

Stottlemyre began his career on the other side of town with the Yankees, pitching eleven solid seasons in pinstripes before his retirement in 1974. He started coaching in 1977 as a roving instructor for the Mariners, and in 1984 he became the pitching coach for the Mets under Davey Johnson. Stottlemyre is credited for grooming a generation of great young Mets pitchers that included Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Bob Ojeda, and David Cone. Darling and Gooden both released statements on the passing of their former pitching coach:

After his ten-year stint as the Mets pitching coach, Stottlemyre was hired to be the pitching coach for the Yankees in 1996, reuniting him with Gooden and Cone. In Stottlemyre’s ten seasons there, he won four World Series and coached a pitching staff headlined by the likes of Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Roger Clemens, Mariano Rivera, and Orlando Hernandez. He left the Yankees after the 2005 season and once again coached for Mariners in 2008, but he was dismissed after the one season and subsequently retired from coaching.

Stottlemyre passed due to complications of multiple myeloma. He was originally diagnosed with the illness in 2000 while still serving as the pitching coach for the Yankees. The cancer was in remission for several years before it reappeared again in 2011.