SALON

Wednesday, Mar 21, 2012 2:45 PM UTC

Former Red Sox lefty Mel Parnell dies at 89

By

Topics: From the Wires,

Former Red Sox lefty Mel Parnell dies at 89FILE - This Sept. 10, 1949 file photo shows Boston Red Sox pitcher Mel Parnell throwing against the Philadelphia Athletics in Philadelphia. Parnell, the left-handed pitcher who faced the infamous Green Monster at Fenway Park and some of the best hitters of the 1940s and early 1950s, has died at age 89. His son, Dr. Mel Parnell Jr., said Wednesday, March 21, 2012 he informed the team of his father's death. (AP Photo/File)(Credit: AP)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Mel Parnell, the left-handed pitcher who spent his entire 10-year career with the Boston Red Sox and faced some of the best hitters of the 1940s and early 1950s, has died. He was 89.

Parnell, a New Orleans native, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer, said his son, Dr. Mel Parnell Jr.

Mel Parnell was masterful at Fenway Park even though he pitched in front of the Green Monster, a home run hitter’s dream at only 310 feet down the left field line. Parnell had a career record of 123-75, but he was 70-30 at Fenway.

He still holds the club record for left-handed pitchers in games started, innings and victories. Parnell’s victories rank second in team history, behind Cy Young and Roger Clemens, who each had 192 victories.

“The Green Monster never bothered me,” Parnell said in an April 2005 interview with The Associated Press. “It was the lack of foul room that bothered me. A foul ball would go into the stands, letting the batter stay alive. I always thought I could manage the Monster, I couldn’t manage the lack of foul territory.”

Parnell’s best season was 1949 when he went 25-7, leading the American League in victories, ERA (2.77), complete games (27) and innings (295.1). He helped the Red Sox pennant run that year, which came down to the final two games of the season.

Boston lost both, 5-4 and 5-3, to the New York Yankees in Yankee Stadium.

“It was a fierce rivalry,” Parnell said. “We just couldn’t get past them.”

In later years, he disparaged the modern system that limited pitches and had starters, long relievers, short relievers and closers.

“You got guys that go five or six innings and everyone thinks it’s great,” said Parnell, who pitched 113 complete games and had 20 shutouts, including a no-hitter in 1956. “In 1949, I started 35 games and completed 27 of them. In the minors I pitched an 18-inning game and was thrown out at the plate in the 17th inning.”

Parnell had a number of health problems. He had a stroke in 1984. A tumor was removed from his heart in 1999, and he was diagnosed with lymphoma.

“My biggest problem is my back,” Parnell said in 2005. “That’s an old pitcher’s problem.”

His house in New Orleans was a monument of memorabilia to the team, which remained an important part of his life long after his playing career ended, his son said.

Parnell Jr. said he has informed the team of his father’s death.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete Wednesday.

More Mary Foster.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments are not enabled for this story.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations