| Gil Meche | |
|---|---|
 Meche with the Kansas City Royals | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: (1978-09-08)September 8, 1978 (age 46) Lafayette, Louisiana, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| July 6, 1999, for the Seattle Mariners | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 3, 2010, for the Kansas City Royals | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 84–83 |
| Earned run average | 4.49 |
| Strikeouts | 1,050 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Medals | |
Gilbert Allen Meche (/ɡɪlmɛʃ/; born September 8, 1978) is an American former right-handedMajor League Baseballstarting pitcher. Meche pitched for theSeattle Mariners for six seasons. With theKansas City Royals, Meche made three straightOpening Day starts and was anAll Star in 2007. Shoulder and back problems caused the former first-round pick to retire in2011 at just 32 years old.[1]
Meche, who is Cajun,[2] was a starpitcher atAcadiana High School in his hometown ofLafayette, Louisiana, and was a member of the U.S. Junior Olympic team that won thegold medal in the1995World Junior Baseball Championship. After his junior year of high school, Meche earned most valuable pitcher honors at the 1995 National Amateur All-Star Tournament at just sixteen years old. However, shortly afterwards, he suffered aviral infection that caused him to miss a considerable amount of playing time his senior year.[3] Nonetheless, Meche was named to theAll-America Second Team by theAmerican Baseball Coaches Association andRawlings.[4] He intended to attendLouisiana State University, but reconsidered when theSeattle Mariners surprised him by selecting him in the first round (22nd overall) of the1996 Major League Baseball draft.[5][6]
Meche debuted with the Mariners on July 6,1999, two months shy of his twenty-first birthday, making him the second-youngest debut for the Mariners at that time (onlyKen Griffey Jr. was younger). Pitching with a 2–1 lead over theAnaheim Angels and twoouts in the sixth, Mechewalked two consecutive batters to force in arun and surrender the lead. He ended up with a no-decision.[7] On July 19, Meche allowed three earned runs in seven innings against theArizona Diamondbacks, earning his first major league win in Seattle's 7–5 victory.[8] For the season, Meche went 8–4 with a 4.73earned run average (ERA) in 16 games (15 starts).[9]
Meche lost his first four decisions of the2000 season.[10] On June 13, 2000, in a game shortened by rain, he tossed a five-inning, one-hit shutout against theKansas City Royals.[11][12] After coming back to go 4–0 with a 2.64 ERA through his July 4 start against Anaheim,[10] Meche was lifted in the sixthinning having thrown 113 pitches.[13] His season was cut short due to what was thought at the time to be adead arm.[14] He went 1–2 with a 3.15 ERA in five rehab starts, but did not pitch at the major league level again for the rest of the season.[15] At the major league level, Meche was 4–4 with a 3.78 ERA in 15 starts with Seattle.[9]
In February2001, Meche underwentarthroscopic surgery to partially repair a frayedrotator cuff, and at the time he was expected to only be on the disabled list for six months.[16] As it turns out, he ended up missing the entire season, and undergoing surgery again on October 3, 2001, on his right AC joint.[17] Meche returned to pitching in2002 for theDouble-ASan Antonio Missions of theTexas League, and went 4–6 with a 6.51 ERA in 25 games (13 starts).[15]
Meche officially returned to the Mariners on April 5,2003. Despite giving up four first inning runs, and taking the loss against theTexas Rangers, Meche came back to pitch four solid innings in which he allowed just twoearned runs on solo shots byIván Rodríguez andJuan González.[18] From there, Meche went 15–13 with a 4.59 ERA in 32 starts and186+1⁄3innings pitched.[9] He went on to earn theSporting News'American LeagueComeback Player of the Year Award at the end of the season.[19]
Meche's2004 season got off to a slow start as his record stood at 1–5 with a 7.06 ERA following a June 1 start against theToronto Blue Jays.[20] He was optioned to theTriple-ATacoma Rainiers of thePacific Coast League after the game.[21] He returned to the M's on July 30,[22] and proceeded to go 6–2 with a 3.95 ERA in 13 second-half starts.[23] On September 12, Meche tossed his first career nine-inning shutout against theBoston Red Sox.[24] Overall, Meche finished 7–7 with a 5.01 ERA in 22 starts.[9]
On January 13,2005, Meche signed a one-year, $2.54 million contract with the Mariners to avoid arbitration.[24] In 2005, Meche posted a winning record of 10–8, but had an ERA of 5.09 in 29 games (26 starts).[9] He pitched143+1⁄3 innings, and averaged less than six innings in over half of his starts.[25]
On January 26,2006, Meche avoided arbitration again, signing a one-year, $3.7 million contract.[26] He finished the 2006 season with an 11–8 record and a 4.48 ERA in 32 starts. He also struck out 156 batters in186+2⁄3 innings.[9]
Meche signed a five-year, $55 million contract with theKansas City Royals on December 7, 2006, matchingMike Sweeney's contract as the largest in club history untilAlex Gordon agreed to a four-year $72 million deal in 2016.[27][28] His record stood at 5–6 with a 3.28 ERA when he was named the Royals' sole representative at the2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in San Francisco.[29][30] Meche finished the season with a 9–13 record, while posting career bests in ERA (3.67), innings pitched (216) and a league-leading 34 starts.[9]
Meche led the American League with 34 starts again in2008, while improving to 14–11 with a 3.98 ERA, and pitching over 200 innings for the second consecutive year for a Royals club that finished 75–87 and in fourth place in theAmerican League Central.[9][31]
On June 16,2009, Meche pitched a four-hitshutout against the Diamondbacks to improve his season record to 4–5 with a 3.31 ERA.[32] The 132pitches he threw, however, took a toll on Meche and he began experiencing back and shoulder problems soon afterwards.[33] For the rest of the 2009 season, Meche went just 2–5 with an 8.46 ERA in his final nine starts.[34] He made 23 total starts, going 6–10 with a 5.09 ERA.[9]
For the first time in his Royals career, 31-year-old Meche did not receive theOpening Day nod for Kansas City in2010. Instead he was slated as the number-two starter behind reigning ALCy Young Award winnerZack Greinke.[35] Meche struggled throughout the season, and was 0–4 with a 6.66 ERA after making his final career start on May 25.[36] On May 30, he was placed on the disabled list with right shoulder bursitis, which marked his second stint on the DL for the season.[37] After five rehab appearances with the Double-ANorthwest Arkansas Naturals and Triple-AOmaha Royals, Meche returned to the Royals as areliever that September.[15][38] He made 11 appearances, giving up three earned runs in thirteen innings for a 2.08 ERA.[39]
| Seasons | W | L | PCT | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | K | WP | HBP | Fld% |
| 10 | 84 | 83 | .503 | 4.49 | 258 | 243 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1,432.1 | 1,441 | 714 | 772 | 176 | 594 | 1,050 | 38 | 29 | .954 |
Despite a guaranteed contract that called for a $12 million salary in 2011, Meche chose to walk away from the game on January 18 as he considered it unfair for the Royals to pay him millions if he would be out all year in the last year of his contract.[1]
The rock groupBand of Horses, which was founded in Seattle in 2004, wrote and dedicated their song "Wicked Gil" to Meche.[40]
