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Mel Nelson

Melvin Frederick Nelson

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right, Throws: Left
Height: 6' 0", Weight: 185 lb.

Born: May 30, 1936 in San Diego, CA
Signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent in 1956. (All Transactions)
Debut: September 27, 1960
Teams (by GP): Angels/Twins/Cardinals 1960-1969

Final Game: June 2, 1969
About biographical information

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Standard Pitching

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB	Awards
1956	20	STL-min	AAA	0	0			7																									ROC · IL
1957	21	STL-min	C	4	3	.571	4.33	11	7					52.0	51	35	25	3	33								1.615	8.8	0.5	5.7			BIL · PION
1958	22	STL-min	A,AA	12	6	.667	3.31	38	24		3	2		177.0	160	85	65	9	109	1	47	1	0	1			1.520	8.1	0.5	5.5	2.4	0.43	YOR,HSN · EL,TL
1959	23	STL-min	AA,AAA	11	9	.550	3.45	48	23		11	3		201.0	186	90	77	6	88	1	128	3	2	8			1.363	8.3	0.3	3.9	5.7	1.45	TUL,OMA · TL,AA
1960	24	LAD-min	AAA	13	7	.650	3.69	33	22					161.0	138	73	66	6	87								1.398	7.7	0.3	4.9			SPO · PCL
1960	24	STL	NL	0	1	.000	3.38	2	1	1	0	0	0	8.0	7	3	3	1	2	1	7	0	0	0	33	126	1.125	7.9	1.1	2.3	7.9	3.50

1961	25	STL-min	AAA	9	12	.429	4.65	38	18					176.0	174	105	91	21	107								1.597	8.9	1.1	5.5			POR · PCL
1962	26	STL-min	AAA	1	0	1.000	7.88	8	0		0	0		8.0	7	7	7	2	2	0	8	1	0	2			1.125	7.9	2.2	2.2	9.0	4.00	ATA · IL
1963	27	ANA-min	AAA	4	4	.500	6.19	12	11					64.0	80	51	44	8	35		44						1.797	11.2	1.1	4.9	6.2	1.26	HAW · PCL
1963	27	LAA	AL	2	3	.400	5.30	36	3	7	0	0	1	52.2	55	34	31	7	32	5	41	2	0	4	250	65	1.652	9.4	1.2	5.5	7.0	1.28

1964	28	MIN-ANA-min	AAA	9	12	.429	3.66	33	23		7	2		167.0	149	79	68	14	57	2	89	3	0	3			1.234	8.0	0.8	3.1	4.8	1.56	ATA,HAW · IL,PCL
1965	29	MIN	AL	0	4	.000	4.12	28	3	13	0	0	3	54.2	57	29	25	7	23	3	31	2	0	4	247	87	1.463	9.4	1.2	3.8	5.1	1.35

1966	30	MIN-min	AAA	5	11	.313	6.21	32	18		5	1		116.0	169	89	80	13	43	1	73	1	0	5			1.828	13.1	1.0	3.3	5.7	1.70	DEN · PCL
1967	31	MIN-min	AAA	10	3	.769	2.67	54	1		0	0		81.0	73	28	24	7	28	2	55	1	1	4			1.247	8.1	0.8	3.1	6.1	1.96	DEN · PCL
1967	31	MIN	AL	0	0		54.00	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	3	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	15	9.000	81.0	27.0	0.0	0.0
1968	32	STL-NYM-min	AAA	1	3	.250	3.00	16	1		0	0		33.0	33	16	11	2	15	2	23	1	0	1			1.455	9.0	0.5	4.1	6.3	1.53	TUL,JCK · PCL,IL
1968	32	STL	NL	2	1	.667	2.91	18	4	8	1	0	1	52.2	49	20	17	3	9	3	16	0	0	0	212	101	1.101	8.4	0.5	1.5	2.7	1.78
1969	33	MIN-STL-min	AAA	6	6	.500	5.06	22	9		4	1	2	80.0	88	53	45	7	35	0	54	0	0	3			1.538	9.9	0.8	3.9	6.1	1.54	DEN,TUL · AA
1969	33	STL	NL	0	1	.000	11.81	8	0	2	0	0	0	5.1	13	7	7	0	3	0	3	0	0	0	30	33	3.000	21.9	0.0	5.1	5.1	1.00
1970	34	ATL-min	AAA	6	8	.429	4.55	37	3		1	0	5	93.0	100	53	47	7	30	1	59	0	0	1			1.398	9.7	0.7	2.9	5.7	1.97	RMD · IL
6 Yrs				4	10	.286	4.40	93	11	31	1	0	5	173.2	184	95	85	19	69	12	98	4	0	8	776	77	1.457	9.5	1.0	3.6	5.1	1.42
162 Game Avg.				3	7	.286	4.40	61	7	20	1	0	3	114	120	62	56	12	45	8	64	3	0	5	507	77	1.457	9.5	1.0	3.6	5.1	1.42

STL (3 yrs)				2	3	.400	3.68	28	5	11	1	0	1	66.0	69	30	27	4	14	4	26	0	0	0	275	86	1.258	9.4	0.5	1.9	3.5	1.86
MIN (2 yrs)				0	4	.000	4.42	29	3	13	0	0	3	55.0	60	31	27	8	23	3	31	2	0	4	251	82	1.509	9.8	1.3	3.8	5.1	1.35
LAA (1 yr)				2	3	.400	5.30	36	3	7	0	0	1	52.2	55	34	31	7	32	5	41	2	0	4	250	65	1.652	9.4	1.2	5.5	7.0	1.28

AL (3 yrs)				2	7	.222	4.85	65	6	20	0	0	4	107.2	115	65	58	15	55	8	72	4	0	8	501	73	1.579	9.6	1.3	4.6	6.0	1.31
NL (3 yrs)				2	3	.400	3.68	28	5	11	1	0	1	66.0	69	30	27	4	14	4	26	0	0	0	275	86	1.258	9.4	0.5	1.9	3.5	1.86

Player Value--Pitchers

WAR Explained (v2.1): 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	IP	G	GS	R	RA9	RA9opp	RA9def	RA9role	PPFp	RA9avg	RAA	WAA	gmLI	WAAadj	WAR	RAR	waaWL%	162WL%	Salary
1960	24	STL	NL	8.0	2	1	3	3.38	4.54	0.01	0.04	88.9	4.06	1	0.1	.1	-0.0	0.1	1	.533	.500	$

1963	27	LAA	AL	52.2	36	3	34	5.81	4.32	0.14	-0.11	92.7	3.77	-11	-1.2	1.6	-0.4	-1.2	-7	.466	.492	$

1965	29	MIN	AL	54.2	28	3	29	4.77	3.90	0.48	-0.10	101.8	3.38	-8	-0.9	1.7	-0.4	-0.9	-4	.467	.494	$

1967	31	MIN	AL	0.1	1	0	2	54.00	3.43	-0.54	-0.13	86.0	3.29	-2	-0.2	.0	0.1	-0.1	-2	.315	.499	$
1968	32	STL	NL	52.2	18	4	20	3.42	3.39	-0.02	-0.05	95.9	3.22	-2	-0.2	.7	-0.0	0.2	3	.487	.499	$
1969	33	STL	NL	5.1	8	0	7	11.81	4.56	-0.04	-0.20	96.1	4.23	-5	-0.5	.9	0.0	-0.4	-4	.440	.497	$
6 Seasons				173.2	93	11	95	4.92	3.92	0.19	-0.09	96.5	3.51	-27	-3.0	1.4	-0.7	-2.3	-12	.468	.497	$

STL (3 yrs)				66.0	28	5	30	4.09	3.62	-0.02	-0.05	95.1	3.41	-6	-0.6	.7	-0.0	-0.1	1	.477	.499	$
MIN (2 yrs)				55.0	29	3	31	5.07	3.90	0.47	-0.10	101.7	3.38	-10	-1.1	1.7	-0.3	-1.0	-6	.462	.497	$
LAA (1 yr)				52.2	36	3	34	5.81	4.32	0.14	-0.11	92.7	3.77	-11	-1.2	1.6	-0.4	-1.2	-7	.466	.492	$

Postseason Pitching

Postseason Gamelog

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Series	Rslt	Opp	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
1968	32	STL	NL	WS	L	DET	0	0		0.00	1	0	1	0	0	0	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	0.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	9.0
1 WS							0	0		0.00	1	0	1	0	0	0	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	0.000	0.0	0.0	0.0	9.0

Batting Against -- Pitching*

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	BAbip	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE
1960	24	STL	NL	2	33	31	3	7	0	1	1	3	0	2	7	.226	.273	.387	.660	.261	12	0	0	0	0	1	1

1963	27	LAA	AL	36	243	206	34	55	10	1	7	2	0	32	41	.267	.369	.427	.796	.302	88	2	2	6	1	5	2

1965	29	MIN	AL	28	247	218	29	57	8	2	7	2	1	23	31	.261	.337	.413	.750	.278	90	6	2	4	0	3	7

1967	31	MIN	AL	1	4	4	2	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	.750	.750	1.500	2.250	.667	6	0	0	0	0	0	0
1968	32	STL	NL	18	212	193	20	49	7	0	3	0	1	9	16	.254	.284	.337	.621	.261	65	5	0	8	2	3	1
1969	33	STL	NL	8	30	25	7	13	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	.520	.533	.520	1.053	.542	13	2	0	0	2	0	0
6 Yrs				93	769	677	95	184	25	4	19	7	2	69	98	.272	.340	.405	.745	.292	274	15	4	18	5	12	11
162 Game Avg.				61	503	443	62	120	16	3	12	5	1	45	64	.272	.340	.405	.745	.292	179	10	3	12	3	8	7
MLB Averages																.249	.314	.374	.688	.276

Win Probability

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	PtchR	PitchW	Plays	WPA	WPA+	WPA-	aLI	WPA/LI	Clutch	RE24	REW	boLI	RE24/boLI	LevHi	LevMd	LevLo
1960	24	STL	NL	0.9	0.1	36	-0.1	0.5	-0.5	.73	0.1	-0.2	0.6	0.1	0.73	1.3	0	0	1

1963	27	LAA	AL	-11.2	-1.2	256	-1.7	3.8	-5.4	1.09	-0.6	-0.9	-11.9	-1.3	1.08	-7.9	12	6	15

1965	29	MIN	AL	-3.3	-0.4	254	-0.2	4.4	-4.5	1.06	-0.3	0.1	-4.4	-0.5	1.06	-8.6	9	3	13

1967	31	MIN	AL	-1.5	-0.2	4	-0.0	0.0	-0.0	.02	-0.2	-0.1	-1.7	-0.2	0.02	-1.9	0	0	1
1968	32	STL	NL	-0.1	-0.0	213	-0.1	2.3	-2.4	.72	0.4	-0.5	-0.2	-0.0	0.72	3.1	2	2	9
1969	33	STL	NL	-4.3	-0.4	30	-0.7	0.2	-0.9	1.08	-0.3	-0.4	-5.6	-0.6	1.08	-3.1	2	1	5
6 Yrs				-19.4	-2.0	793	-2.7	11.1	-13.8	.96	-0.9	-2.0	-23.1	-2.4	0.96	-17.1	25	12	44

Starting Pitching*

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	GS	Wgs	Lgs	ND	Wchp	Ltuf	Wtm	Ltm	tmW-L%	Wlst	Lsv	CG	SHO	QS	QS%	GmScA	Best	Wrst	BQR	BQS	sDR	lDR	RS/GS	RS/IP	IP/GS
1960	24	STL	NL	2	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	.000	0	0	0	0	1	100%	56.0	56	56	0	0	0	0	2.0	2.6	7.0

1963	27	LAA	AL	36	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	3	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0%	39.7	56	22	25	6	1	1	1.7	1.4	4.8

1965	29	MIN	AL	28	3	0	1	2	0	0	2	1	.667	0	0	0	0	1	33%	46.0	66	26	4	1	1	2	3.8	3.8	4.1

1968	32	STL	NL	18	4	2	0	2	0	0	3	1	.750	0	1	1	0	3	75%	55.2	72	36	8	5	0	4	4.8	5.4	6.6
4 Yrs				84	11	2	5	4	0	1	5	6	.455	0	1	1	0	5	45%	49	72	22	37	12	2	7	3.4	3.8	5.5
MLB Averages													.500						55%	53	116	-14					4.1	4.0	6.4

Reliever Pitching*

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	GR	GF	Wgr	Lgr	SVOpp	SV	BSv	SV%	SVSit	Hold	IR	IS	IS%	1^stIP	aLI	LevHi	LevMd	LevLo	Ahd	Tie	Bhd	Runr	Empt	>3o	<3o	IPmult	0DR	Out/GR
1960	24	STL	NL	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0		8	.734	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	3.0

1963	27	LAA	AL	36	33	7	2	0	4	1	3	25%	7	1	38	9	24%	7	1.092	12	6	15	9	4	20	19	14	13	14	17	5	3.5

1965	29	MIN	AL	28	25	13	0	3	4	3	1	75%	4	0	25	6	24%	8	1.064	9	3	13	4	5	16	12	13	15	6	16	4	5.1

1967	31	MIN	AL	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	0	0	0		8	.020	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	1.0
1968	32	STL	NL	18	14	8	0	1	1	1	0	100%	3	1	8	5	63%	8	.722	2	2	9	3	1	10	4	10	9	2	9	1	5.6
1969	33	STL	NL	8	8	2	0	1	0	0	0		0	0	10	3	30%	7	1.079	2	1	5	0	1	7	4	4	1	6	1	0	2.0
6 Yrs				93	82	31	2	5	9	5	4	56%	14	2	81	23	28%		.960	25	12	44	16	11	55	39	43	38	29	43	10	4.2

Ratio Pitching*

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	PA	Ptn%	HR%	SO%	BB%	XBH%	X/H%	GO/AO	IP%	DPopp	DPs	DP%
1960	24	STL	NL	33	24%	3.0%	21.2%	6.1%	6.1%	29%	0.42	70%	1	0	0%

1963	27	LAA	AL	247	39%	2.9%	16.9%	13.2%	7.4%	33%	1.05	65%	55	2	4%

1965	29	MIN	AL	247	30%	2.8%	12.6%	9.3%	6.9%	30%	1.00	73%	55	6	11%

1967	31	MIN	AL	4	0%	25.0%	0.0%	0.0%	25.0%	33%	0.00	75%	1	0	0%
1968	32	STL	NL	212	21%	1.4%	7.6%	4.3%	4.7%	20%	1.15	83%	39	5	13%
1969	33	STL	NL	30	23%	0.0%	10.0%	10.0%	0.0%	0%	2.25	80%	8	2	25%
6 Yrs				773	30%	2.5%	12.7%	9.0%	6.2%	26%	1.05	73%	159	15	9%
MLB Averages					48%	2.2%	15.2%	8.3%	6.2%	28%	1.08	73%			10%

Baserunning & Situational Stats*

					Hits			Home Runs							Advances				Baserunning
Year	Age	Tm	Lg	PA	H	Inf	Bnt	All	GS	GSo	vRH	vLH	Hm	Rd	<2,3B	Scr	SO	%	ROE	WP	PB	SBO	SB	CS	SB%	SB2	CS2	SB3	CS3	SBH	CSH	PO	PCS	BT	PAu
1960	24	STL	NL	33	7			1	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	1	0%	1	0	0	8	3	0	100%	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

1963	27	LAA	AL	243	55			7	0	13	4	3	3	4	24	10	4	42%	2	4	2	100	2	0	100%	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	4

1965	29	MIN	AL	247	57			7	1	6	5	2	2	5	14	7	0	50%	7	4	0	108	2	1	67%	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0

1967	31	MIN	AL	4	3			1	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0		0	0	0	1	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1968	32	STL	NL	212	49			3	0	6	3	0	2	1	12	6	0	50%	1	0	0	73	0	1	0%	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	0
1969	33	STL	NL	30	13			0	0	5	0	0	0	0	4	3	0	75%	0	0	0	12	0	0		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
6 Yrs				769	184			19	1	30	14	5	7	12	56	26	5	46%	11	8	2	302	7	2	78%	7	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	20	4
MLB Averages																		50%							62%

Cumulative Pitching

Year	Age	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	WP	BF	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB	ERA+
1960	24	0	1	.000	3.38	2	1	1	0	0	8.0	7	3	3	1	2	1	7	0	0	33	126	1.125	7.9	1.1	2.3	7.9	3.50	126
1961	25	0	1	.000	3.38	2	1	1	0	0	8.0	7	3	3	1	2	1	7	0	0	33	126	1.125	7.9	1.1	2.3	7.9	3.50	126
1962	26	0	1	.000	3.38	2	1	1	0	0	8.0	7	3	3	1	2	1	7	0	0	33	126	1.125	7.9	1.1	2.3	7.9	3.50	126
1963	27	2	4	.333	5.04	38	4	8	0	1	60.2	62	37	34	8	34	6	48	2	4	283	70	1.582	9.2	1.2	5.0	7.1	1.41	70
1964	28	2	4	.333	5.04	38	4	8	0	1	60.2	62	37	34	8	34	6	48	2	4	283	70	1.582	9.2	1.2	5.0	7.1	1.41	70
1965	29	2	8	.200	4.60	66	7	21	0	4	115.1	119	66	59	15	57	9	79	4	8	530	78	1.526	9.3	1.2	4.4	6.2	1.39	78
1966	30	2	8	.200	4.60	66	7	21	0	4	115.1	119	66	59	15	57	9	79	4	8	530	78	1.526	9.3	1.2	4.4	6.2	1.39	78
1967	31	2	8	.200	4.75	67	7	21	0	4	115.2	122	68	61	16	57	9	79	4	8	534	75	1.548	9.5	1.2	4.4	6.1	1.39	75
1968	32	4	9	.308	4.17	85	11	29	1	5	168.1	171	88	78	19	66	12	95	4	8	746	81	1.408	9.1	1.0	3.5	5.1	1.44	81
1969	33	4	10	.286	4.40	93	11	31	1	5	173.2	184	95	85	19	69	12	98	4	8	776	77	1.457	9.5	1.0	3.6	5.1	1.42	77

Neutralized Pitching

Change to: / / / or

All seasons are converted to 162-game seasons &
average team scoring of 716 total runs (4.42 R/G) How this works

Year	Age	W	L	W-L%	ERA	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	HBP	WHIP	H/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB	HR/9	Gact
1960	24	0	0		3.38	8.0	7	3	3	1	2	7	0	1.125	7.9	2.3	7.9	3.50	1.1	2

1963	27	1	4	.200	6.23	52.0	59	40	36	8	34	40	2	1.788	10.2	5.9	6.9	1.18	1.4	36

1965	29	2	3	.400	4.50	54.0	60	30	27	7	24	30	2	1.556	10.0	4.0	5.0	1.25	1.2	28

1967	31	0	0		18.00	1.0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0.000	0.0	0.0	0.0		0.0	1
1968	32	2	3	.400	4.13	48.0	56	24	22	3	10	15	0	1.375	10.5	1.9	2.8	1.50	0.6	18
1969	33	0	0		18.00	4.0	14	9	8	0	3	2	0	4.250	31.5	6.8	4.5	0.67	0.0	8
6 Yrs		5	10	.333	5.28	167.0	196	108	98	19	73	94	4	1.611	10.6		5.1	1.29	1.0	93

* Many Detailed Statistics are based on play-by-play accounts accumulated by RetroSheet. These totals may be incomplete (3.6% of all plays from 1918 to 1973 are missing or have incomplete accounts, click link for year and team summary) for some players prior to 1974 and even complete seasons may not match the official totals due to errors in both the official totals and the play-by-play accounts. Pre-1954 seasons have a substantial numbers of games missing play-by-play accounts and should be viewed as essentially incomplete.

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Hall of Fame Monitor

Pitching - 1 (1951), Likely HOFer ≈ 100

Similarity Scores

Explanation of Similarity Scores

Similar Pitchers

Compare Stats to Similars

Dennis Kinney (988)
Tommy Phelps (985)
Bunny Hearn (984)
Johnny Gee (983)
Rick Austin (983)
Bob Meyer (983)
Lloyd Hittle (982)
Chick Davies (982)
Rigo Beltran (982)
Bill Landis (981)

Most Similar by Ages

Hold mouse over #'s to see names

Rick Austin (988) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Bill Short (988) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Joe Grzenda (982) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Joe Grzenda (980) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C

Other Resources & Links

Error? Compare Search SABR's Baseball Index Other Links@google.com Baseball Library Baseball-Almanac.com Retrosheet The Baseball Cube The Baseball Page WhatIfSports: Mel Nelson

Viewed 5,059 times through June 1, 2012.
Name and misspellings: Melvin Frederick Mel mell melvin nellie Nelson

Player Page Tricks and Tips

Sum any set of rows by clicking anywhere (not red or blue) on the first and last rows of your selection. We will then compute the totals for the player between and including those two seasons.
Default Setting for this feature: Turn On / Turn Off
Summation of season totals only works for the initial case when the table is in year order. On a sorted table the results may get a bit goofy.

HIGHLIGHTING: Adding a range or series of player's career seasons or career game numbers (like '#1972:batting_standard', '#1970-1980-sum:batting_standard', or '#1998,1999,2001,2002,sum:pitching_standard') onto the end of a player page url causes the seasons to the highlighted and summed. After changing address bar, reload the page to see highlighting. This will work even in links e-mailed to others. Note that for tables with multiple pages the first table is the default. If you want to create a sum for a table other than the first one, select the rows and after the summation window appears click on "permanent link" link.

The play-by-play information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet.