| Mel Queen | |
|---|---|
.jpeg) | |
| Pitcher /Outfielder /Manager | |
| Born:(1942-03-26)March 26, 1942 Johnson City, New York, U.S. | |
| Died: May 11, 2011(2011-05-11) (aged 69) Morro Bay, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 13, 1964, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| July 21, 1972, for the California Angels | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 20–17 |
| Earned run average | 3.14 |
| Strikeouts | 306 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
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Melvin Douglas Queen (March 26, 1942 – May 11, 2011) was an American professionalbaseball player,manager,coach,scout and executive. He played all or part of nine seasons as anoutfielder andpitcher inMajor League Baseball, and also served for four seasons as apitching coach. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.[1][2]
Queen's father,Melvin Joseph Queen (1918–1982), was a Major League pitcher for theNew York Yankees andPittsburgh Pirates for parts of eight seasons from 1942 to 1952.[1][3] The younger Mel Queen was born inJohnson City, New York and the family moved to California in the early 1950s when his father was playing for theHollywood Stars of thePacific Coast League. He was signed to a bonus by the Reds after a stellar three-sport high school career atSan Luis Obispo High School inSan Luis Obispo, California, where he was a teammate of future Major League pitcherJim Lonborg.[4][5]
Queen started hisminor league career as athird baseman with thePalatka Redlegs of theFlorida State League.[6] The following year, Queen ledThree-I Leaguethird basemen with 228assists while playing for the Topeka Reds. After spending 1962 with theMacon Peaches,[6] Queen was converted into an outfielder in 1963 while with theSan Diego Padres, at the time the Reds'Triple-A affiliate in thePacific Coast League.[6]
In 1964, Queen started the season with the major league Reds, making his MLB debut onOpening Day,[7] April 13, as apinch hitter in the sixth inning, lining out to center field offHouston Astros pitcherKen Johnson.[8] He got his first hit 11 days later with a single against theSan Francisco Giants, offfuture Hall of FamerJuan Marichal.[9] He spent the entire season with the Reds, appearing in 46 games and batting .200.
After spending nearly all of 1965 back with the minor league Padres, appearing in only five games for the Reds, Queen returned to the majors full-time in 1966. It was this season that he was again converted, this time into a pitcher.[5]
He made his pitching debut on July 15 against theSt. Louis Cardinals, pitching the ninth inning of a blowout loss.[10] Altogether, he appeared in 56 games for the Reds, 32 as an outfielder, seven as a pitcher, and the rest as a pinch-hitter.[11] As a pitcher, he compiled a 6.43earned run average in sevenrelief appearances for the Reds and did not have a decision.
Queen's most productive season came in 1967, when he posted a 14-8record and a 2.76 ERA in 31 games,striking out 154 batters in a career-high 195.2innings pitched, while allowing two or less earned runs in 15 of his 24starts.[12] His season highlights included a six-hitshutout against theSan Francisco Giants in his first career start on April 16,[13] and a two-hit shutout against theNew York Mets on September 8.[14]
Queen developed shoulder problems including a torn rotator cuff and missed most of the 1968 season, then spent much of 1969 in the minor leagues.
Queen was purchased by theCalifornia Angels in October 1969. He appeared in 34 games in 1970, all but three in relief, posting a record of 3-6 and an ERA of 4.20 with ninesaves. In 1971, he pitched in 44 games, all in relief, and posted a career-best 1.78 ERA. In 1972, he appeared in 17 games, posting a 4.35 ERA with no decisions, while spending part of the year back in the minor leagues.[1] It was his last year as an active player.
In a seven-season career, Queen went 20–17 with a 3.14 ERA and 14 saves in 140 games, giving up 154 runs (136 earned) on 336 hits and 143walks while striking out 306 in 389.2 innings of work.[1] As a pitcher, Queen relied almost entirely on his fastball.
"I just went to the mound and threw as hard as I could", he said in an interview.[15]
Even after his conversion to pitching, he occasionally came off the bench topinch-hit against right-handed pitchers, finishing his career with a collective .179average with twohome runs and 25runs batted in through 269 games as a hitter.
Following his playing career, Queen managed a friend's seafood restaurant and was thus able to spend more time with his wife Gail and their three children. Queen joined the Indians' organization in 1979 as a minor league pitching coach after former managerDave Bristol recommended him, and had a stint on their major league staff in 1982.[5][16] He later joined theLos Angeles Dodgers organization, serving asmanager of theBakersfield Dodgers in 1985.[17]
In 1986, Queen joined theToronto Blue Jays, where he would play a significant role in the development of the homegrown players during their 11 straight winning seasons. He started as a coach, being promoted as their farm director in 1990 and served as their major league pitching coach from 1996 through 1999. During his four seasons in that role, two Toronto hurlers won three consecutiveCy Young Awards as the top pitcher in theAmerican League —Pat Hentgen in 1996 andRoger Clemens in the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
In addition, Queen was instrumental in helping shape the careers of a number of top Blue Jays players, to include pitchersChris Carpenter,Pat Hentgen,Todd Stottlemyre,Mike Timlin,David Wells andWoody Williams; infieldersAlex Gonzalez andJeff Kent, as well as outfieldersShawn Green andShannon Stewart, among some other notables.
Queen also served as the Blue Jays interimmanager for the final five games of the 1997 season afterCito Gaston was let go, and later became a scout for the organization.
Nevertheless, one of his major achievements came in 2000, when the Blue Jays coaxed him out of retirement to help revive the sagging career ofRoy Halladay, by then a 23-year-old pitcher. Queen met Halladay inDunedin, Florida, where the Jays had sent their once-promising hurler after his ERA had soared to 10.64 in the major leagues, at which he ran a virtual boot camp for Halladay, rebuilding his delivery, teaching him new grips for his pitches and helping him develop a new mental approach.[18]
"There's no one I made that drastic a change to and verbally abused the way I did Doc", Queen explained after Halladay won his first Cy Young Award in 2003. "There aren’t many people that would have gone through what I put him through. I had to make him understand that he was very unintelligent about baseball. He had no idea about the game", he added.[18]
In 2009, then Toronto'sgeneral managerJ. P. Ricciardi brought Queen out of retirement again to serve as a senior advisor, working on special assignments with minor league pitchers, retaining that position for the rest of his life.[18]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| TOR | 1997 | 5 | 4 | 1 | .800 | 5th in AL East | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 5 | 4 | 1 | .800 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
Queen's brother-in-law was Jim Lonborg, whose sister Celia Queen married and had a son, Steven Queen. Lonborg had also been Queen's high school teammate. Lonborg pitched from 1965 to 1979 for theBoston Red Sox,Milwaukee Brewers andPhiladelphia Phillies.[1][4]
Mel Queen was a longtime resident ofMorro Bay, California, where he died at age 69 on May 11, 2011, as a result of complications from cancer.
He was survived by his second wife of 44 years, Gail, his daughter Shirlee and her two children, Tanner and Rocky, as well as his son Jeffrey Todd Queen and his two children, Ashley and Jeffrey, as well as his son Steven from his first marriage. He is also survived by two stepsons and seven step-grandchildren .[5][19]