{{short description|American baseball player, scout manager and executive}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography | name = Mel Didier | image = Mel Didier (cropped).jpg | caption = Didier in 1973 | position = Pitcher / Scout | birth_date = {{birth date|1926|6|25}} | birth_place = Marksville, Louisiana, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2017|9|10|1926|6|25}} | death_place = Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. | bats = Right | throws = Right }}
'''Melvin Joffrion Didier Sr.''' (June 25, 1926 – September 10, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher in Minor League Baseball for two years (1948-49). However, he spent more than 60 years in pro ball as a scout and executive.
==Biography== Born in Marksville, Louisiana, Didier was raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.<ref name=ADVOCATE/> He attended Louisiana State University (LSU) where he played both football and baseball for the Tigers.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Franques |first1=Bill |title=Former LSU Player and Coach Mel Didier Dies |url=https://lsusports.net/news/2017/09/11/211666780/ |access-date=12 January 2023 |publisher=LSU Sports |date=11 September 2017}}</ref> His career covered a wide array of involvement in athletics for over 70 years from starting his career as a football and baseball coach at his alma mater, Catholic High School 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 and in 1949 for the Thomasville Tigers, ending his career with an 11–15 win–loss record and a 6.33 earned run average (ERA) in his two-year career. A shoulder injury ended his playing days with the Detroit Tigers organization but not his association with the game.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=didier001mel|title=Mel Didier Minor League Statistics & History|work=Baseball-Reference.com|accessdate=September 11, 2017}}</ref>
When the expansion Montreal Expos began in 1969, Didier was hired as director of scouting and player development, a position that he held until September 1975.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baseballamerica.com/execdb/?show=franchise&fid=was|title=Baseball America - Executive Database|work=Baseball America|accessdate=September 11, 2017}}</ref> During his time at Montreal, he was responsible for the signings of future Baseball Hall of Famers Gary Carter (1972) and Andre Dawson (1975).<ref name=ADVOCATE>[http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/article_8fc2cc48-8b34-11e6-b954-7ffbf3e0559d.html/ 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.</ref>
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 from 1977 to 1978, after which he joined the Cleveland Indians. He was the baseball coach at the University of Southwestern Louisiana from 1981 to 1982, also serving as its athletic director in 1982.<ref name=HOF/>
Didier then became a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers, whom he convinced to acquire free agent Kirk Gibson in 1988. As a result, he gained fame for his scouting report on Oakland Athletics ace relief pitcher Dennis Eckersley, 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.<ref name=HOF>[http://www.lasportshall.com/inductees/baseball/mel-didier/?back=inductee Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame official website]. Retrieved September 12, 2017.</ref>
Didier joined the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks 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. After that, he worked for the Texas Rangers as a special assignments scout. In October 2009, he joined the Toronto Blue Jays, whom he served until his death.<ref name=HOF/>
In 2003, Didier gained induction into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.<ref name=HOF/> 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.<ref name=ADVOCATE/>
His son Bob was a catcher in the Major Leagues from 1969 through 1974, and later had a long post-playing career as a coach, scout and minor league manager.
Didier died on September 10, 2017, in his home in Phoenix, Arizona, at the age of 91.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=George |title=Legendary baseball scout Mel Didier dies at age 90; grew up, coached in Baton Rouge |url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/sports/article_d889f63a-88e6-11e7-8d98-3737c24a007c.html |access-date=12 January 2023 |work=The Advocate |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Portal|Biography}} {{baseballstats|brm=didier001mel}} *[https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/b2cc5d8f Mel Didier] at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Didier, Mel}} Category:1926 births Category:2017 deaths Category:Arizona Diamondbacks executives Category:American expatriate baseball people in Canada Category:Atlanta Braves scouts Category:Baseball coaches from Louisiana Category:Baseball players from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Category:Catholic High School (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) alumni Category:Cleveland Indians scouts Category:Detroit Tigers scouts Category:Los Angeles Dodgers scouts Category:Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns athletic directors Category:Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns baseball coaches Category:LSU Tigers football coaches Category:Major League Baseball farm directors Category:Milwaukee Braves scouts Category:Montreal Expos executives Category:People from Marksville, Louisiana Category:Seattle Mariners executives Category:Stroudsburg Poconos players Category:Texas Rangers scouts Category:Thomasville Tigers players Category:Toronto Blue Jays scouts Category:LSU Tigers football players Category:LSU Tigers baseball players Category:High school baseball coaches in the United States Category:High school football coaches in Louisiana Category:20th-century American sportsmen