Former Yankees great Mel Stottlemyre dies at 77

Mel Stottlemyre, who was a five-time World Series champion as a coach following an 11-year career as an MLB pitcher, died Sunday at the age of 77 after a long battle with bone marrow cancer.

Stottlemyre's entire playing career was spent with the New York Yankees from 1964-1974, during which he was a five-time All-Star and won 20 games on three occasions. He later served as the Yankees' pitching coach during the team's dynasty years from 1996-2005.

"I am sorry to hear of Mel’s passing," Joe Torre, who managed the Yankees when Stottlemyre was their pitching coach, said in a statement, according to Dan Martin of the New York Post.

"Mel was a role model to us all and the toughest man I have ever met. Sometimes a manager hires a friend to be their coach, but with Mel, as with (former Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer), he was my coach who became a dear friend and someone who became very special to me. I send my deepest sympathies to his wife Jean, boys Mel Jr. and Todd, as well as the entire Stottlemyre family."

In 2015, Stottlemyre was honored with a plaque in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.

(Video courtesy: MLB.com)

He last worked in MLB as a pitching coach with the Seattle Mariners in 2008 before retiring from baseball following his dismissal.