Clifford George Melton (January 3, 1912 – July 28, 1986) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

, who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the New York Giants over parts of eight seasons spanning 1937–44. Listed at , , Melton batted left-handed. A native of Brevard, North Carolina, Melton had two different nicknames: "Mickey Mouse" and "Mountain Music". His

cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

, Rube, pitched in the major leagues for six seasons.

Major League career

Melton enjoyed his best year in his rookie season of 1937, when he had a record of 20–9 with a 2.61

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) and topped the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL) with seven saves, helping the Giants won the NL pennant before losing to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

in the 1937 World Series. Melton also was named to the National League All-Star team in 1942. For his career, Melton posted an 86–80 record with a 3.42 ERA in 272 pitching appearances (179 starts), and

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

660 batters while

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

431 in innings of work. In World Series play, he went 0–2 with a 4.91 ERA in three games (two starts), including seven strikeouts and six walks in 11 innings. Melton died on July 28, 1986, in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, at the age of 74.

Fact

On September 15, 1938, Melton was on the

mound A mound is a heaped pile of earth, gravel, sand, rocks, or debris. Most commonly, mounds are earthen formations such as hills and mountains, particularly if they appear artificial. A mound may be any rounded area of topographically higher ...

the first time that two

brothers A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

hit back-to-back home runs in major league history. The batters were

Lloyd Waner Lloyd James Waner (March 16, 1906 – July 22, 1982), nicknamed "Little Poison", was a Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. His small stature at and 132 lb (68 kg)

and

Paul Waner Paul Glee Waner (April 16, 1903 – August 29, 1965), nicknamed "Big Poison", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four teams between 1926 and 1945, most notably playing his first 15 se ...

of the Pittsburgh Pirates. (The second time was not until April 23, 2013, when

B. J. Upton Melvin Emanuel Upton Jr. (born August 21, 1984), known as B. J. Upton, is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays / Rays, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Pad ...

and

Justin Upton Justin Irvin Upton (born August 25, 1987) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is currently a free agent. Nicknamed "J-Up", he has previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Detroit Tig ...

of the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

homered against Colorado Rockies' Jon Garland.)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melton, Cliff 1912 births 1986 deaths People from Brevard, North Carolina Americus-Cordele Orioles players Asheville Tourists players Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Baseball players from North Carolina Beaumont Roughnecks players Binghamton Triplets players Erie Sailors players Harlan Smokies players Jersey City Giants players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Major League Baseball pitchers Minor league baseball managers National League All-Stars Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela New York Giants (NL) players Newark Bears (IL) players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players

Major League career

Fact

See also

References

External links