Mel Queen (#374)

Here's a position combination rarely (if ever) seen at the major-league level. Mel began as a 3rd baseman and outfielder, and didn't begin pitching until 1966, his 2nd full season in the big leagues.

Mel Queen was signed by the Reds in 1960, and spent 4 seasons (1960-63) in their farm system as an outfielder and third baseman. His major-league debut came on April 13, 1964. He spent all of 1964 with the Reds as their 5th outfielder. After spending most of the 1965 season as a triple-A outfielder, he returned to the Reds in 1966.


(Mel is so new to pitching in 1967 that Topps doesn't have his pitching record.)

Mel began 1966 as an outfielder, but made 7 pitching appearances for the Reds. After 1966, Queen no longer played the outfield, but in addition to his 31 pitching appearances, he was used many times as a pinch-hitter in 1967. He compiled a 14-8 record as a starter in 1967.

In 1968 Mel only pitched in 5 games, and spent most of 1969 in the minors. (I don't know what his situation was, but the Reds seemed to have many sore-armed pitchers in the late 1960s.)

After the 1969 season, he was sold to the Angels, where he pitched almost exclusively in relief for 3 seasons. His last major-league game was in July 1972, and he spent the remainder of that season with the Angels' triple-A team.

Queen's father pitched for the Yankees and Pirates in the 1940s and 1950s, and Mel is the brother-in-law of former Red Sox' and Phillies' pitcher Jim Lonborg.