New York Giants Hall of Famer: Mel Ott (1926-1947)

Melvin Thomas Ott known as "Master Melvin” was born on March 2, 1909 in Gretna, Louisiana. He was born into a family with Dutch ancestry and semi pro ball players. As a young man he worked in a lumber company 90 miles outside of New Orleans, playing baseball for their semi pro team. The millionaire owner of the company went to New York to tell the New York Giants manager John McGraw about his star player.

McGraw was impressed when he saw Ott  belt line drive HRs during the try out, & signed him on the spot. He was just 16 years old. Ott was not built like your typical HR hitter, he was just 5’ 9” tall weighing in at 170 lbs. He also had an unusual swing, lifting his forward leg stepping into the ball just before he would hit it. This helped his power and Mel Ott would go on to become one of the game’s best all time HR hitters.

John McGraw was afraid minor league managers would ruin his swing, so he brought Ott right up to the big league club. Still a teen, he sat on the bench all year studying the game.

By 1928 he was the Giants starting right fielder, and became one of the game’s best players. In the outfield he made 29 assists, with 12 double plays, and mastered the caroms off the Polo Grounds strange dimensions. Defensivley he would lead NL outfielders in fielding % & assists twice.

He would have 20 or more assists from the outfield five times, before begininng to play at third base later in his career. He would also lead all NL outfielders in assists twicem posting 256 in his career (21st all time). In his career as an outfielder, he only made 98 errors in 4865 chances posting a career .989% (fourth best all time). He played in 2313 games in the outfield (20th all time) making 4511 put outs (21st all time). But it was his hitting that got Ott into the Hall of Fame.

Those Polo Grounds dimensions would help his power production down the short 258 foot, right field line. He would go on to lead the league in HRs six times, come in second seven times, and be in the top ten of the league's HR hitters 14 straight seasons. He would have eight 30 plus HR seasons reaching a career high 42 in 1929. From 1934- 1938 he hit over 30 HRs each season winning four HR titles.

He became the youngest player at age 22 to reach the 100 HR mark in 1931. By 1937 he had passed Rogers Hornsby as the all time NL HR leader, a record he held until Willie Mays broke it 31 years later. Ott became the first National Leaguer to hit 500 HRs in 1945, and is currently #23 on the all time HR list with 511.

He also holds the MLB record for leading his team in HRs, 18 consecutive years from 1928 to 1945. In today’s free agency era, that record will probably never be surpassed. Of Ott's 511 career home runs, 323 of them, or 63 % came at home, the most by any player ever hit at the Polo grounds. He also has the distinction of hitting the most HRs in New York City. Ott hit 343 career HRs in New York ball parks, four more than Babe Ruth.

In 1929 he drove in 151 runs, second most in the league. He would drive in over 100 runs for the next eight seasons, through 1936, becoming the first player to do so. In that stretch he would drive in more than 120 runs four times. In 1934 he led the league in RBIs (135) & he would come in second four other times (1929 / 1931 / 1936 / 1938). Ott would come in the top ten in that category 12 times.

Overall he would have nine 100 plus RBI seasons & twelve 90 plus RBI seasons. When he retired he was the NL RBI leader of the 20th century & second overall to only Cap Anson.

Ott hit over .300 eleven times in his career coming in the top ten in the leagues batting race five times. In 1930 he hit a career best .349 & batted over .320 seven times.  

Ott also put up incredible on base percentages, leading the league four times, coming in second another four times, and postings a .414% in his career, #27 all time. He also led the league in walks six times, and walked over 100 times ten different seasons.

Ott is only one of five players ever to be walked with the bases loaded. Twice in his career he walked six times in a doubleheader, setting the MLB record. He drew five walks in a game on three different occasions & set another record walking seven straight times in June 1943. He is 8th on the all time base on balls list with 1708. Ott didn’t strike out too often either, especially for a power hitter. In his career he only whiffed 896 times in 9456 at bats.

Mel Ott was also one of the most popular players in the game. He was known a true gentleman, easy going & considerate. He once said "I could watch the fans yelling and laughing and I'd think, 'What an ungrateful fellow a ballplayer would be who just didn't give everything he had every moment of every inning in every game.”

Post season: Ott would play in three World Series (1933-1936-1937) winning a Championship with the Giants in 1933. In that Series he had four hits in Game #1, including a two run HR in the 1st inning. In Game #5 in the top of the 10th inning, he blasted a two run HR into the centerfield bleachers putting New York ahead for good, as they clinched the Series in five games over the Senators. Overall he hit .398 (7-18) in the Series.

In the 1936 World Series he hit .304 in six games with a Game #6 HR and three RBIs. In the 1937 World Series he went (4-20) good for only a .200 average; but still drove in three runs with one HR. Overall he played in 16 World Series games, batting .295 (18 for 61) with 4 HRs, 10 RBIs, 2 doubles, 8 walks & 8 runs scored.

In 1942 Mel was Named player-manager, at age 33. That season he led the league in HRs (30) for the sixth & last time. He also led the league in runs scored (118) and walks (109). He hit .295 and drove in 93 runs.

He would serve as team player/manager for five years, finishing his playing career in 1947. In his 22-season Hall of Fame career, Ott batted .304 with 511 HRs (23rd all time), 1,860 RBIs (11th all time), 1,859 runs scored (12th all time) 2,876 hits (38th all time), 1071 extra base hits (21st all time) 488 doubles, 72 triples, a .414 on base percentage (27th all time) and a .533 slugging average (45th all time).

He is also one of only six NL players to spend a 20 plus year career with the same team. Ott played on 12 All Star teams & strangley never won an MVP Award, although he was considered for the award 13 times.

Retirement: He managed the Giants for seven years (1942 -1948) finishing best in 1942, in third place. Leo Durocher came up with the famous line “Nice guys finish last” in reference to Ott's easy going style, although it was taken somewhat out of context.

"I never knew a baseball player who was so universally loved. Why, even when he was playing against (us) he would be cheered and there are no more rabid fans than in Brooklyn." - Leo Durocher. After managing, Ott was a broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers (1956-1958) on radio and television.

Passing: In November 1958; Mel and his wife Mildred were driving on a Mississippi highway on a foggy night. A car crossed over into their lane and hit them head on. One week later, Mel passed away from his injuries, and his wife would survive.

Honors: He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951 with 87% of the vote. His #4 was retired by the Giants in 1949. In 1999 he was ranked #42 in the Sporting News top 100 players list. The Mel Ott Little League is celebrating over 50 years in Amherst, NY.