1947-1949

Sam Mele was signed by the Red Sox in 1946 and was sent out to Triple A, Louisville and then to Scranton, where he earned the "Most Valuable Player" award. He hit .342 with Scranton, leading the league and ranking second with 154 hits.

In 1947 Mele made Red Sox ballclub. His debut came on Opening Day and was 2-for-2 at the plate. On April 30th, Mel Parnell got his first major league win and  Mele rapped out three hits, with a triple, driving home four of the runs.

A home run by Ted Williams, that landed on the roof of the right field grandstand and another homer by Mele, gave the Sox a 5 to 2 triumph over the Browns in St. Louis on June 4th.

Earl Johnson beat Washington at Fenway on August 11th, 1-0. Mele's third inning homer held up as the only run scored in the game. Against Indians in the first game of a doubleheader in Cleveland on August 24th that the Sox won 11-2, he knocked out four hits in six times up.

Mele had his best year, playing in 123 games, mostly in right field, and hitting .302 with 12 homers and 73 RBIs.

He had far fewer plate appearances in 1948 and didn't perform as well, batting just .233. He also found himself in the doghouse. While fooling around in a sparring contest with Ted Williams on the train to Philadelphia, Ted separated the cartiledge from his rib and went on the DL, missing two full weeks.

In 1949, two months into the season, Mele had been in just 18 games for the Sox, batting just .196. In June, he was traded to Washington.

After 1958, he turned to coaching, working for Washington in 1959 and 1960, and moved with the Senators to Minnesota beginning in 1961. He ultimately became their manager and served the Twins for six years. Under him, the Twins took the American League pennant in 1965, but lost to the Dodgers in the World Series.

When his days in the dugout were done, Mele worked in the Red Sox system for the next 25 years as a roving minor league hitting instructor and helped sign Jim Rice.

Sam Mele died at age 95 on May 1, 2017.