After the announcement of Mel Stottlemyre’s death this afternoon at the age of 77, a tidal wave of tributes came in for the former Mets and Yankees pitching coach. Through his 50-plus years in the game, Stottlemyre left a lasting impact on every player and organization that he worked for and worked with.
Along with an official tribute tweet from the Mets account and a statement from the ownership, former players such as David Cone, Ken Singleton, Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, and Howard Johnson expressed their condolences, calling Stottlemyre “a father figure”, “one of the classiest men I have ever known” and “a dear friend”.