| Sam Mele | |
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| Outfielder/Manager | |
| Born: January 21, 1922 Astoria, New York |
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| Batted: Right | Threw: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| April 15, 1947 for the Boston Red Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 16, 1956 for the Cleveland Indians | |
| Career statistics | |
| Batting average | .267 |
| Home runs | 80 |
| Runs batted in | 544 |
| Teams | |
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As Player
As Manager |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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Sabath Anthony "Sam" Mele (born January 21, 1922 in Astoria, New York) is a former right fielder, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. As a manager, he led the Minnesota Twins to their first American League championship in 1965.[1]
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Mele was the nephew of major league baseball players Tony and Al Cuccinello, but did not play baseball until he attended William Cullen Bryant High School. The high school gave up baseball after his freshman year, but Mele played with other local baseball teams. Mentored by his uncle Tony, Mele gained major league attention and worked out with several teams while still in high school. After high school, Mele attended New York University. In 1940, he broke his leg sliding into third base but, in 1941, he posted a batting average of .405, and in 1942, he hit .369. He also excelled as a basketball player. NYU basketball head coach Howard Cann called Mele one of the finest players he ever coached. In the summer of 1941, Mele also played baseball for the Burlington, Vermont team of the Northern League where he made contact with the Boston Red Sox and signed a five-figure contract. But before he could join the Sox, he first signed up for the United States Marine Corps in 1942 and was called in July 1943. As part of the V-12 Navy College Training Program, Mele played baseball for Red Rolfe at Yale University. He was sent to the Pacific Ocean where he was able to play baseball with Joe DiMaggio and others. Mele led the Navy league with a .358 average in 1944. In 1946, after the Marines, Mele joined the Red Sox in Sarasota, Florida before being sent to the Louisville Colonels and, later, the Eastern League Scranton Red Sox. Mele won the Eastern League Most Valuable Player award, leading the league in average (.342), total bases and triples. The following year, the Boston Red Sox went into spring with uncertainty at the right field position, but Mele won the job with a 5-for-5 performance, and hit .302 for the season. He also substituted well in center field when Dom DiMaggio was injured.[2]
During his playing days (1947–56), Mele saw duty with six major league clubs: the Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians, batting .267 with 80 home runs in 1,046 games. He batted and threw right-handed.[1] Along the way, he acquired the nickname "Sam" from his initials.[3]
Mele became pilot of the Twins on June 23, 1961, the team's first season in Minnesota after moving from Washington. He had been a coach for the Senators in 1959 and 1960 under Cookie Lavagetto.[1] With the '61 Twins struggling, Mele filled in as manager while Lavagetto took a seven-game leave of absence in early June. He then formally succeeded to the job later in the month. The Twins moved up two places in the standings under Mele, finishing seventh.[1]
But fortified by young players such as Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew, Jim Kaat, Zoilo Versalles and Bob Allison, the Twins challenged the powerful New York Yankees in 1962 before placing second. After finishing third in 1963, the team suffered through a poor season in 1964,[1] leading to speculation that Mele would be replaced by his new third base coach, Billy Martin.
The 1965 Twins broke the Yankees' stranglehold on the American League pennant. Led by Versalles, who was named the American League's Most Valuable Player, batting champion Tony Oliva, and pitcher Mudcat Grant, who won 21 games, Minnesota won 102 games and coasted to the league title. (The Yankees finished sixth.) Minnesota took a two-game lead in the 1965 World Series, but the superior pitching of the Los Angeles Dodgers' Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Claude Osteen took its toll, and Los Angeles won in seven games.[1]
The 1966 Twins won 13 fewer games, and ended up as runners-up to the Baltimore Orioles.[1] Mele also became embroiled in a clash between two of his coaches, pitching tutor Johnny Sain and future manager Billy Martin.[4] His action (or inaction) alienated him from some of the players. [5] The club swung a major trade for pitcher Dean Chance during the offseason and unveiled star rookie Rod Carew in 1967. Hopes and expectations were high in Minnesota, but when the Twins were only .500 after 50 games, Mele was fired. His successor was not Martin, as had been anticipated, but longtime minor league manager Cal Ermer.[1]
Mele's record as a manager was 524-436 (.546).[1] He never managed again, but returned to the Red Sox as a scout for 25 years.
| Preceded by Cookie Lavagetto Cookie Lavagetto |
Minnesota Twins Manager 1961 1961-1967 |
Succeeded by Cookie Lavagetto Cal Ermer |
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