Sabath Anthony Mele was on born January 21, 1922 in Astoria, New York. He eventually earned the nickname SAM due to his initials. Mele attended Bryant High School off 31st Street in Long Island City, moving on to New York University in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Mele was a star basketball player at NYU, and then served the United States in World War II.
He was signed by the Boston Red Sox in 1946 & went on to lead the Southern League in hitting (.342) & triples (18) that same year. The next year he was in the majors, batting .302 with 8 triples posting the AL’s second best fielding % in the outfield (.992). He played in an outfield next to Ted Williams & Dom Dimaggio before losing his starting job to Sam Spence in 1948. That year his average fell to .233 & he was traded to the Washington Senators in 1949.
In 1951 he led the league in doubles (36) driving in a career high 94 runs batting .274. He would have one of the league’s best fielding percentages for four straight years in the outfielder during the early fifties. Mele would play next for the White Sox, Orioles, Red Sox again & Reds before finishing his ten year playing career in 1956. He ended with a .267 batting average 406 hits 80 HRs 168 doubles & 39 triples in 1046 games played.
In 1959 he began to coach under former Brooklyn Dodger & future Mets coach Cookie Lavagetto with the Washington Senators. In 1961 the Senators franchise moved to Minneapolis & became the Minnesota Twins. In June Lavagetto took a leave & eventually left the position for good. Sam Mele took over as the Twins new manager, finishing in seventh place.
The Twins surprised people finishing second the next year & after two poor seasons became one of the AL’s most powerful teams.
In 1965 Mele’s Twins won the pennant & fell one game short of winning the World Series when Sandy Koufax defeated Jim Katt in Game #7. Mele’s team won 102 games, still a Twins record & won the Manager of the year Award.
Members of that great team include Hall of Fame slugger Harmon Killebrew, batting champion Tony Oliva, 1965 AL AVP Zoilo Versalles, Don Mincher & pitchers Jim Katt, Mudcat Grant & Al Worthington.
The next seasons the Twins finished second to Baltimore & expectations were high for 1967. In mid May the Twins were just at .500 even though they had acquired pitcher Dean Chance & added rookie Rod Carew. Mele was fired & replaced by Cal Ermer.
The Twins finished second to Boston losing out on the last day of the 1967 season. Mele went on to scout for the Red Sox until the new milleneum.
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