A loaner article from my friends over at Centerfield Maz http://www.centerfieldmaz.com/
I’m struggling to find anything Mets related to write about since all the Mets have left the team…so we return to the past. Good job out of Centerfield Maz on this one from last week.
Also, if the Mets insist on wearing black, they should eyeball these pictures. That pic on the bottom is a good look.
I know that the Giants never played in Brooklyn so I doubt Mel Ott will be mentioned at C-Field.
New York Giants Hall of Famer: The Great Mel Ott on his Would Be 100th
Mel Ott was born in Gretna, Louisiana on March 2nd,1909 and was Known as “Master Melvin”. His small 5′ 9″ frame was very unusual for a hitter with so much power. Ott’s swing was so perfect NY Giants manager John McGraw brought him right up to the big leagues so minor league coaches couldn’t mess with it. He was a Giants everyday right fielder at age of 19 and that year he hit 18 HRs 77 RBIs and batted .323. It was his first of ten seasons hitting over .300. Ott took full advantage of playing in the Polo Grounds with its short right field fence. 63% of his 511 career HRs were at home. Ott would play for the Giants for 22 seasons, appear in 12 All Star Games and 3 World Series. His batting style was unusual as he would lift his right leg up and drop it as he swung the bat. That style won him six home run titles and he became the 1st NL player to hit 500 HRs. He was the 1st player and still one of only four to ever drive in over 100 runs for eight straight seasons. Because of his awesome power he was walked a lot and led the league in that category six times. Ott also led the NL in on base percentage four time
s and was runner up an additional 3 times. He also scored 100 or more runs 9 times in his great career.
Ott played in 3 World Series winning in 1933. He hit .389 in that Series including 2 HRs in Game #1. He had four hits and drove in the Series winning run in the 10th inning of Game #5. He would hit .300 again in the 1936 World Series with 1 HR 3 Doubles & 3 RBIs. His last Series was in 1937, he only batted .200 but still had a home run & 3 RBIs.
When he retired he was the NL All Time HR leader with 511. He is currently #23 All Time. He is 11th All Time with 1810 RBIs and 8th in walks with 1708. His 5048 total bases is 18th best all time and his on base % of .414 is 27th All Time.
Otts #4 is retired by the Giants and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951. He also has the distinction of the player hitting the most home runs in one city, that city is New York (348). Ott also hit the most HRs of any one at the Polo Grounds (323).
After playing he managed the NY Giants from 1942-1948. They never finished above 3rd place and his easy going style caused rival Dodger manager to say his famous words “Nice guys finish last”. Ott became a radio broadcaster in 1955 for a national broadcast station, then for the Detroit Tigers (1956-1958). In 1959 at the age of 49 he was tragically killed in an auto accident in New Orleans.
