Northwest loses good man in Stottlemyre

When I read Monday morning that Mel Stottlemyre Sr., had passed away at the age of 77 — losing his battle with multiple myeloma — my thoughts went back to Safeco Field in 2001.

That’s when I spent 30 minutes on the field with Stottlemyre when he was still the New York Yankees’ pitching coach during that incredible run under manager Joe Torre.

What I remember most was that while he was busy nine months out of the year running around the country with the Yankees, his heart was always in the Northwest.

He and his wife Jean had a home in Issaquah. But he loved going back to Mabton and the Yakima Valley, where he grew up, to go fishing any chance he could get.

I remember watching his two sons, Mel Jr., and Todd, pitch for the Davis Pirates back in the days of the Big Nine Conference.

I remember how approachable he always was, how he had become a pitching guru for the New York Mets in the ‘80s (with the World Series champs in 1986), and then for 10 years with the Yankees, where they won five more World Series titles.

People forget he was a pretty good pitcher himself. His 164-139 record with the Yankees from 1964-74 may seem pedestrian.

But that was also a period in which the Yankees weren’t very good. He was the ace that could stop losing streaks.

The Tri-Cities’ Central Washington Sports Hall of Fame committee thought enough of Stottlemyre to put him into the second induction class in 2000.

Yakima started its own Central Washington Sports Hall of Fame last year, and its committee (of which I’m a member) put Stottlemyre into the inaugural induction class.

It was a no-brainer. Always will be.

The Northwest lost a good guy.

Prep basketball

• Highlights in Mid-Columbia Conference play last weekend included the Pasco boys beating Walla Walla 60-55 on Friday for their first win of the season. Diego Gutierrez scored 22 points for the Bulldogs.
  
  
• Ryne Andreason’s scoop shot with 1 second left gave Hermiston’s boys a 64-63 win over Kennewick on the same night.
  
  
• Richland’s boys are up to 31 consecutive MCC victories now.
  
  
• Outside of Kamiakin’s boys and girls, the Chiawana boys and girls and Richland boys and girls are the hottest thing going right now. The Chiawana teams have won five straight games over the last 10 days, while the Richland teams are 4-0. Guess what? They all meet at Richland High on Tuesday, Jan. 15, with the girls game at 5:45 p.m., and the boys game to follow at 7:30.
  
  
• I got a chance to see the Ellensburg-Prosser boys-girls doubleheader on Friday night, doing color commentary for SWX. Both contests were great, especially the girls, which Prosser won 57-54 as a last-second 3-point field goal attempt by Ellensburg hit off the iron no good. Marissa Cortes, Prosser’s two-time CWAC MVP, had 15 points, while teammate Abby Rodriguez added 14.
• Prosser’s boys beat Ellensburg too, winning 78-68, to hand the Bulldogs just their second CWAC loss. Mustangs sophomore Haden Hicks had 30 points and 10 rebounds, while Ellensburg’s Steele Venters — held to just 3 points in the first half — finished with 26.
• It was the second time this season that Prosser had beaten Ellensburg. “We had a real good game plan,” said Hicks. “They are an all-around great team. But the plan was to have pressure on Venters the whole game.”
• Hicks’ comeback from a broken vertabrae during football season, ironically against Ellensburg in October, has been nothing short of impressive. In fact, the standout sophomore said he’s planning to play football again next fall. “(The injury) was scary,” he said. “But the goal is to play. I’m gonna try to get bigger.”
• Final note from the game: Venters has a Tri-City connection in that his father is former Richland standout Wade Venters. Sitting in the stands watching were Heath Dolven and Kamiakin girls coach Lane Schumacher (whose Braves had the bye). Wade Venters, Dolven and Schumacher were all teammates together in the 1990s at Northwest Nazarene University.
  
  

Latest RPI rankings

Boys Class 4A – 1. Union; 6. Richland; Class 3A – 1. Eastside Catholic; Class 2A – 1. Lynden; Class 1A – 1. Lynden Christian; 10. Connell; Class 2B – 1. Saint George’s; 9. Tri-Cities Prep; Class 1B – 1. Sunnyside Christian; 10. Prescott.

Girls Class 4A – 1. Kentridge; 10. Sunnyside; Class 3A – 1. Mt. Spokane; 2. Kamiakin; 10. Kennewick; Class 2A – 1. East Valley-Spokane; Class 1A – Lynden Christian; 7. Warden; Class 2B – 1. Wahkiakum; 2. Tri-Cities Prep; 9. Columbia-Burbank; Class 1B – 1. Pomeroy; 8. Sunnyside Christian.

This story was originally published January 14, 2019 at 7:27 PM.