Mel Ott

Melvin Thomas Ott (March 2, 1909 – November 21, 1958), nicknamed "Master Melvin", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants, from through .

He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Though unusually slight in stature for a power hitter, at , , Ott led the National League in home runs a then-record six times. He was an All-Star for 11 consecutive seasons, and was the first National League player to surpass 500 career home runs.

Ott was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951.

Early life

Ott was born in Gretna, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans. He was a second cousin of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Baton Rouge, Stanley Joseph Ott. Despite his average height, he quickly established himself as a gifted athlete, especially in baseball. During high school, he played on a semi-pro team three or four days a week. He already showed considerable power at a young age and was getting paid for it. His team had a tradition of passing the hat whenever a player hit a home run that figured in a victory, meaning Ott was taking home money for playing baseball as early as 14.

Playing career

Despite his power, Ott's hometown minor league team, the New Orleans Pelicans, refused to sign him because of concerns about his size. He then found a job at a lumber company in Patterson, near Morgan City, where he became a sensation on the company baseball team. Company owner Henry Williams was particularly impressed with Ott. While visiting New York, he suggested that Giants manager John McGraw give him a tryout. Ott was skeptical at first, so Williams bought Ott a train ticket to New York.

thumb|right|Ott's 1933 Goudey baseball card

Ott was a six-time NL home run leader, in 1932, 1934, 1936–1938, and 1942. This style helped him hit for power. More recent players who used a similar style include Harold Baines and Kirby Puckett, as well as the Japanese home run king, Sadaharu Oh.

In 1943, all of his 18 home runs came at home; only two other players ever had a greater number of all-homefield home runs. Of Ott's 511 career home runs, 323 of them, or 63%, came at home. Because of this, his home run record historically has been downplayed, suggesting that a foul line at the Polo Grounds resulted in higher numbers at home. Sportswriters often jokingly referred to him as the master of the "Chinese home run" as such short homers were called at the time; Ott would often respond by noting that if it was so easy to inflate his homer totals by hitting over that fence, all other hitters in the league would be doing it.

As a balance, the Polo Grounds had the deepest power alleys in baseball. Also, Ott hit more career home runs in foreign stadiums than any other National League hitter at the time of his retirement. In some of his better seasons, he hit more homers on the road than in the Polo Grounds.

There may be reason to believe that he was a better hitter than his record suggests because of differences in National League and American League ball specifications. Those differences are considered the greatest in the history of the game and made it considerably harder for National League hitters to achieve home runs.

Ott was also a skilled fielder. He was a master at playing balls that bounced off the fences at the Polo Grounds, allowing him to garner 26 assists in 1929, his first full season as a full-time player. He would never even approach that figure again, as baserunners quickly realized it was far too risky to run on balls hit in Ott's direction. In Game 5, he drove in the series-winning run with two outs in the top of the 10th, driving a pitch into the center-field bleachers. In the 1936 World Series, Ott had seven hits and one home run. In 1945, he hit .308 and finished tied for fourth in home runs (21).

Ott spent the remaining two-and-a-half years of his contract helping his former teammate Carl Hubbell run the Giants' farm system. In 1951, Ott succeeded Chuck Dressen as manager of the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League, leading the club to an 80–88 record and seventh-place finish. In 1952, the Oaks finished 104–76 under Ott, good for second place in the PCL.

MLB honors

Ott was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951 with 87.2% of the vote. His number "4" was also retired by the Giants in , and it is posted on the facade of the upper deck in the left field corner of Oracle Park.

He was a National League All-Star for 12 consecutive seasons, from 1934 through 1945 (All-Star selections only began in 1933; Ott had at least three All-Star caliber seasons prior to that, as well as in 1945, when MLB cancelled the 1945 contest and selections).

He is one of only six National League players to spend a 20+ year career with one team (Cap Anson, Stan Musial, Willie Stargell, Tony Gwynn, and Craig Biggio being the others).

In 1999, Ott was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. That same year, The Sporting News placed Ott at number 42 on its list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players". In 2020, The Athletic ranked Ott at number 32 on its "Baseball 100" list, compiled by sportswriter Joe Posnanski.

Broadcasting career

thumb|Ott (left) in the broadcast booth with [[Van Patrick, 1957]]

Ott spent the 1953 and 1954 seasons out of baseball for the first time since coming to New York in 1925. In 1955, he joined the Mutual radio network to recreate baseball games. From 1956 to 1958, Ott teamed with Van Patrick to broadcast the games of the Detroit Tigers on radio and television.

Death

Ott was injured in an auto accident in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi, in November 1958. He was transferred to a hospital in New Orleans, where he died a week later at the age of 49. He was interred in Metairie Cemetery. Ott died in a similar manner to two other New York Giants Hall of Famers: Frankie Frisch in 1973 and Carl Hubbell in 1988, both of whom had been teammates with Ott (Frisch in Ott's rookie season in 1926 and Hubbell for his entire career from 1928 to 1943).

Legacy

Ott is remembered in his hometown of Gretna, where a park is named in his honor. Since 1959, the National League has honored the league's annual home run champion with the Mel Ott Award. In the 1989 film Field of Dreams, Ott was one of several deceased players portrayed in farmer Ray Kinsella's Iowa cornfield. In 2006, Ott was featured on a United States postage stamp, as one of a block of four honoring "Baseball Sluggers" — the others being Mickey Mantle, Hank Greenberg, and Roy Campanella. In announcing the stamps, the U.S. Postal Service stated, "Remembered as powerful hitters who wowed fans with awesome and often record-breaking home runs, these four men were also versatile players who helped to lead their teams to victory and set impressive standards for subsequent generations." Ott is also remembered in the name of the Little League of Amherst, New York. The Mel Ott Little League began in 1959, named for Ott soon after his death.

Ott's name frequently appears in crossword puzzles, on account of its letter combination and brevity.

Ott is mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash, first published in Sport magazine in January 1949:

Ott is mentioned in Frank D. Gilroy's 1964 Pulitzer Prize-winning play “The Subject was Roses” near the beginning of Act 1, Scene 2, when John and Timmy have just returned home from a 1946 Giants vs. Cubs game.

JOHN: What'll we drink to?

TIMMY: The Chicago Cubs.

JOHN: Think it'll help them?

TIMMY: Can it hurt?

JOHN: To the Cubs.

TIMMY: To the Cubs.

JOHN: Sixteen to three.

TIMMY: I'm still glad we went.

JOHN: So am I. That was a beautiful catch Ott made.

TIMMY: Yes.

JOHN: For a moment I thought he lost it in the sun.

Early life

Playing career

MLB honors

Broadcasting career

Death

Legacy

See also

Notes

References

External links