Mel Stottlemyre's speech yesterday was heartbreaking due to his illness. I don't know if anyone else noticed but 1978 hero Brian Doyle is also suffering. The career 201 hitter over 4 seasons who reached amazing heights during the 78 playoffs when he hit a combined 391 over 9 games & 438 during the 6 game series is suffering from Parkinson's. He bravely vowed last month the he would jog out of the dug out when his name was announced. And he kept that pledge, slowly running onto the field when his name was called. Despite the noticeable shaking of his right hand he was able to tip his cap to a nice ovation. To Mel & Brian. God bless & thanks for the memories.
Heard a radio interview with Doyle couple yrs go and the Boss was mentioned.....Doyle couldn't say enough good things about George - how he always called him to check in on his health and other things, helped him out with expenses.....
The '78 Yankees were minus Chambliss & Randolph, down two games to none still came back to win. Bucky Dent stepped up huge in that series, ditto Brian Doyle. Every time one turned around Dent and Doyle were getting it done. Best of luck to Brian the rest of the way. Another side of "The Boss" few knew about, the man was hard but fair, took care of his employees well.
I should of posted an article I read yesterday on Mel. I did not know Mel was diagnosed in 2000, and carried a chemo bag tucked into his Jacket. Given 3-5 Years to live, and ............he beat those odds by far: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...stottlemyre-battling-cancer-article-1.2245957
