Mel Parnell Career Highlights
Mel Parnell Career Highlights
Position: Pitcher
Bats: Left • Throws: Left
6-0, 180lb (183cm, 81kg)
Born: June 13, 1922 in New Orleans, LA
Died: March 20, 2012 in New Orleans, LA
Buried: Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, LA
High School: Peters HS (New Orleans, LA)
Debut: April 20, 1947 (7,966th in MLB history)
vs. WSH 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 SO, 1 BB, 2 ER, L
Last Game: September 29, 1956
vs. NYY 6.0 IP, 7 H, 1 SO, 2 BB, 3 ER
Full Name: Melvin Lloyd Parnell
Nicknames: Dusty
Nine Players Who Debuted in 1947
Nellie Fox
Duke Snider
Larry Doby
Jackie Robinson
Curt Simmons
Mel Parnell
Vic Wertz
Ted Kluszewski
Ferris Fain
All-Time Teammate Team
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Notable Events and Chronology for Mel Parnell Career
Mel Parnell was a successful left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox who led the league in wins once and also threw a no-hitter. He is the winningest left handed pitcher in Red Sox history. After his career, he became a broadcaster.
Parnell was born in New Orleans, LA in 1922 and signed with the Boston Red Sox in 1941, the year that Ted Williams hit .406. The war intervened, and he didn’t come up with the Red Sox until 1947.
His first minor league team was the Centreville Red Sox of the Eastern Shore League in 1941. He then played with the Canton Terriers in the Middle Atlantic League, posting a 1.59 ERA. The war took away 1943-1945, although he played on wartime teams – at one point being on the team that won the Eastern Flying Training Command championship.
He then pitched on one of the greatest minor league teams, the 1946 Scranton Red Sox. Scranton won the division by 18 1/2 games that year. Parnell had an ERA of 1.30.
He started the 1947 season with Louisville in the American Association but was quickly up with the major league Red Sox. The first year was not very promising, as he had a 6.39 ERA in 50 2/3 innings. The next year, 1948, he turned it all around. In all the rest of his career, he was only worse than the league ERA one time. In 1948, he was 15-8 with a 3.14 ERA. His ERA was fifth in the league.
In 1947, the Red Sox won 83 games, while in 1948, Parnell helped them win 96 games. It was the time of Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, Johnny Pesky, Vern Stephens, Dom DiMaggio, and Birdie Tebbetts on the team. However, it was the other Boston team, the Boston Braves, that won a pennant and went to the World Series that year.
In 1949, Parnell had his biggest year, going 25-7. The Red Sox again finished 2nd with 96 victories behind the New York Yankees. Parnell was first in the league in wins and 2nd in the league in ERA, with 2.77.
He followed up in 1950 and 1951 with 18 wins in each season. His ERA was lower the second year, but that’s partly because the league ERA was lower. In both years his ERA was good for 7th in the league.
The Red Sox were slipping, though, winning fewer games each year from 1950 to 1952. Parnell slipped, too, in 1952, going 12-12 with a 3.62 ERA (still better than the league average and the team average). In 1953, Parnell had another good year, with a record of 21-9 and a 3.06 ERA. His wins were 2nd in the league, and his ERA was again 7th in the league.
It was really the end, though, as he had injury problems after that. In 1954, he pitched only 19 games, with a record of 3-7 and an ERA of 3.70 (still better than the league). In 1955, he pitched in only 13 games, with a terrible ERA over 7.00. Finally, in 1956, he came back for 21 games, went 7-6 and had a 3.77 ERA, again better than the league ERA of 4.16. He threw a no-hitter on July 14, 1956, against the Chicago White Sox, at Fenway, the Red Sox won 4-0.
Lifetime, Mel Parnell won 62.1% of his games in the major leagues. He had a record of 123-75. His ERA of 3.50, while not among the all-time greats, would have been better in almost any other ballpark. He wasn’t a big strikeout artist, although twice in his career he was in the top 10 pitchers in the league for strikeouts. He struck out, and walked, about 4 men per 9 innings. He was famous for his inside slider, used on right-handed batters.
After being a player, he was head coach for the team at Tulane University in 1958, and then managed the New Orleans Pelicans in 1959. He was a broadcaster for both the Red Sox and the White Sox in the 1960’s.
Parnell has been named to the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1997.
He coined the term “Pesky’s Pole” for the right-field foul pole at Fenway Park, one day when Johnny Pesky, not much of a home run hitter, hit a home run to win a game for Parnell. However the term more likely came into play in 1965 when Parnell became the Red Sox broadcaster.
He and Mel Ott would give coaching clinics in New Orleans in the 1950’s at places like the Milne Boys Home. Ott was also from New Orleans.
He passed away in 2011 at the age of 89@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF90YWdzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiTGVhcm4gTW9yZSBhYm91dCB0aGUgdGVhbXMsIHBsYXllcnMsIGJhbGwgcGFya3MgYW5kIGV2ZW50cyB0aGF0IGhhcHBlbmVkIG9uIHRoaXMgZGF0ZSBpbiBoaXN0b3J5IC0gLSAtIC0gLSAtIC0gIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6InBvc3RfdGFnIn19@
Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts
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Other Resources & Links
Mel Parnell Baseball Reference Page
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