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Melvin Douglas Queen
Cincinnati Reds
Pitcher
Born: March 26, 1942, Johnson City, NY
Signed: Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1960 season
Major League Teams: Cincinnati Reds 1964-1969; California Angels 1970-1972
As a Manager: Toronto Blue Jays 1997
Died: May 11, 2011, Morro Bay, CA (age 69)
Drafted as an infielder and converted to an outfielder, Mel Queen first came up with the Reds in 1964, appearing in 48 games mostly as a left-handed bat off the bench. He'd spend most of 1965 and 1966 in the minor leagues, and when he came back up to the Reds in 1967 he had converted again, this time to a full-time pitcher. His first season as a pitcher was his best, as he went 14-8 with a 2.76 ERA in 31 games, throwing six complete games and two shutouts. He struck out 154 batters over 195 2/3 innings pitched. Queen was suddenly, and surprisingly, one of the best pitchers in the league, but a shoulder injury stopped his ascent almost as soon as it had started.
Died: May 11, 2011, Morro Bay, CA (age 69)
Drafted as an infielder and converted to an outfielder, Mel Queen first came up with the Reds in 1964, appearing in 48 games mostly as a left-handed bat off the bench. He'd spend most of 1965 and 1966 in the minor leagues, and when he came back up to the Reds in 1967 he had converted again, this time to a full-time pitcher. His first season as a pitcher was his best, as he went 14-8 with a 2.76 ERA in 31 games, throwing six complete games and two shutouts. He struck out 154 batters over 195 2/3 innings pitched. Queen was suddenly, and surprisingly, one of the best pitchers in the league, but a shoulder injury stopped his ascent almost as soon as it had started.
Queen missed most of 1968 due to injury, spent almost all of 1969 in the minors, and returned to the majors in 1970 with the Angels. He had a solid 1971 season with the Angels as a reliever, making 44 appearances and pitching to a 1.78 ERA over 65 2/3 innings pitched. He was 20-17 with a 3.14 ERA in seven seasons as a pitcher, and batted .179 with a pair of home runs as a batter. Queen began his long coaching career in 1979, and he'd work on the major league coaching staffs of the Indians (1982) and Blue Jays (1996-1999). Queen briefly served as the Blue Jays' interim manager in 1997 following the firing of Cito Gaston (#304). He's also credited with reviving the career of future Hall of Famer Roy Halladay, as the Blue Jays convinced Queen to un-retire in 2000 to work with the struggling pitcher.
Queen's father, also Mel Queen, was a pitcher with the Yankees and Pirates between 1942 and 1952.
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 52nd of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing less than a dollar.
The Card / Reds Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
I had to look at the back of this card for a little bit to figure out what was going on. Topps chose to display both Queen's pitching and hitting statistics, which could be the only instance of them doing that within the set. Queen wore #22 throughout his four seasons with the Reds.
Accuracy Index: Queen's card scores a solid +5 given he's shown in a Reds uniform in a photo not used before by Topps.
1969 Season
Queen made only two pitching appearances with the Reds in 1969, pitching 12 innings over two starts in April. With the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians, he made 19 starts and was 6-1 with a 2.67 ERA in 91 innings pitched. On October 24th, the Reds sold the oft-injured Queen to the Angels.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #33
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1964, 1966-1969, 1971-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1972 Topps #196
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 44 in the Beckett online database as of 9/15/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Queen made only two pitching appearances with the Reds in 1969, pitching 12 innings over two starts in April. With the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians, he made 19 starts and was 6-1 with a 2.67 ERA in 91 innings pitched. On October 24th, the Reds sold the oft-injured Queen to the Angels.
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First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #33
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7): 1964, 1966-1969, 1971-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1972 Topps #196
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 44 in the Beckett online database as of 9/15/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
#80 Norm Cash - Detroit Tigers / #82 Pirates Rookie Stars
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