Friday, May 13, 2011

Mel Queen

Mel Queen passed away today at the age of 69.

While he may not be a household name for all baseball fans he was responsible for rescuing the career or a future first ball Hall of Famer. Roy Halladay (circa 1998-2000) didn't always look like the dominant pitcher he has gone on to become. In fact he had pretty much hit rock bottom after showing some early brilliance (was one out away from pitching a no-hitter in his 2nd career start). His 10.64 ERA in 2000 got him a demotion all the way down to Single A where Mel Queen worked with him and turned his career around. Tom Verducci wrote a great article for Sports Illustrated last year that documented Mel Queen's work with Roy Halladay.

As a Scouting Director for the Blue Jays he oversaw the development of the likes of David Wells, Jeff Kent, Chris Carpenter, Shawn Green, Woody Williams, Mike Timlin and Pat Hentgen. He later served as the pitching coach for four years during which Pat Hentgen and Roger Clemens combined for 3 Cy Young Awards.

It is hard to predict no-hitters but I wouldn't question Halladay coming close in his next start. Mel Queen had that kind of impact on him.
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