With his cane resting beside him as he sat at a podium, Mel Stottlemyre spoke about what really gives him comfort and support. It is the pinstriped outfit he has been wearing on and off for 51 years.
"I can honestly say," he said with a catch in his voice, "that every time I put this uniform on -- even though we weren't -- I felt unbeatable."
Just the thought of getting to Old-Timers' Day Saturday, being with former teammates, colleagues and pupils and putting on the interlocking NY and his familiar No. 30 made him determined.