Melvin Joffrion Didier Sr. (June 25, 1926 – September 10, 2017) was an American

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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

for two years (1948-49). However, he spent more than 60 years in pro ball as a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

and executive.

Biography

Born in

Marksville, Louisiana Marksville is a small city in and the parish seat of Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,702 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, an increase of 165 over the 2000 tabulation of ...

, Didier was raised in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

. He attended

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

(LSU) where he played both

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

for the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

. His career covered a wide array of involvement in athletics for over 70 years from starting his career as a

and baseball coach at his alma mater,

Catholic High School Catholic schools are parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school system. In 201 ...

in Baton Rouge, to a football assistants' job at LSU. Didier moved to professional baseball as both a scout and later as a front office executive for three expansion clubs. Didier pitched in 1948 for the

Stroudsburg Poconos The Stroudsburg Poconos, located in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, were a minor league baseball team that played in the Interstate League in 1932 and in the North Atlantic League from 1946 to 1950. They were affiliated with the New York Yankees in 1947 ...

and in 1949 for the Thomasville Tigers, ending his career with an 11–15

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

and a 6.33

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) in his two-year career. A shoulder injury ended his playing days with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

organization but not his association with the game. When the expansion

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

began in 1969, Didier was hired as director of scouting and player development, a position that he held until September 1975. During his time at Montreal, he was responsible for the signings of future

Baseball Hall of Famers The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

Gary Carter Gary Edmund Carter (April 8, 1954 – February 16, 2012) was an American professional baseball catcher whose 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career was spent primarily with the Montreal Expos and New York Mets. Nicknamed "Kid" for his youth ...

(1972) and

Andre Dawson Andre Nolan Dawson (born July 10, 1954), nicknamed "the Hawk" and "Awesome Dawson", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for four different teams as a center and r ...

(1975).At 90, Mel Didier isn't finished helping major league baseball teams win
Article by George Morris. ''The Advocate'', October 15, 2016. Retrieved on September 12, 2017. Didier was the running backs/freshman coach at his alma mater, LSU, when the expansion Expos hired him to oversee their player development. He was the director of player development for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

from 1977 to 1978, after which he joined the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

. He was the baseball coach at the

University of Southwestern Louisiana The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana Sys ...

from 1981 to 1982, also serving as its

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches a ...

in 1982. Didier then became a scout for the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

, whom he convinced to acquire free agent

Kirk Gibson Kirk Harold Gibson (born May 28, 1957) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and manager. Gibson spent most of his career in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Detroit Tigers, but also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansa ...

in 1988. As a result, he gained fame for his scouting report on

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

ace

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

Dennis Eckersley Dennis Lee Eckersley (born October 3, 1954), nicknamed "Eck", is an American former professional baseball pitcher and color commentator. Between 1975 and 1998, he pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, ...

, which Gibson credited for his dramatic 1988 World Series Game One-winning pinch-hit home run against Eckersley; the Dodgers would go on to win the series in five games.Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame official website
Retrieved September 12, 2017. Didier joined the expansion

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

in December 1996 and served with them through October 2000. He then served a second stint in Cleveland, followed by a year with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. After that, he worked for the Texas Rangers as a special assignments scout. In October 2009, he joined the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

, whom he served until his death. In 2003, Didier gained induction into the

Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame (LHOF) is an hall of fame exhibit that honors the accomplishments of athletes, coaches and other sports figures in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located in a facility in the downtown historic district of the city ...

. Then in 2014, Aquila Productions made the documentary, ''Scout's Honor: The Mel Didier Story''," which baseball greats, including Gibson, talk about Didier's influence on the game. His son

Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Bob (surname) * Bob (dog), a dog that received the Dickin Medal for bravery in World War II * Bob t ...

was a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

in the Major Leagues from 1969 through 1974, and later had a long post-playing career as a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and minor league

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. Didier died on September 10, 2017, in his home in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, at the age of 91.

References

External links

Mel Didier
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Didier, Mel 1926 births 2017 deaths Arizona Diamondbacks executives American expatriate baseball people in Canada Atlanta Braves scouts Baseball coaches from Louisiana Baseball players from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Catholic High School (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) alumni Cleveland Indians scouts Detroit Tigers scouts Los Angeles Dodgers scouts Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns athletic directors Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball coaches LSU Tigers football coaches Major League Baseball farm directors Milwaukee Braves scouts Montreal Expos executives People from Marksville, Louisiana Seattle Mariners executives Stroudsburg Poconos players Texas Rangers scouts Thomasville Tigers players Toronto Blue Jays scouts LSU Tigers football players LSU Tigers baseball players High school baseball coaches in the United States High school football coaches in Louisiana 20th-century American sportsmen