Bill Mellor

William Harpin Mellor

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 190 lb.
• School Brown University, University of Virginia
• Debut July 28, 1902
• Final Game August 8, 1902
• Born June 6, 1874 in Camden, NJ USA
• Died November 5, 1940 in Bridgeton, RI USA

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Biographical Information

Bill Mellor showed he could hit in his ten games in the majors with the Baltimore Orioles in 1902, posting a batting average of .361. Defensively, he played first base, where the team used eleven players that year. The regular, Dan McGann, appeared in 68 games. Mellor was 28 years old at the time. The next year he played with the Columbus Senators.

An article from 2010 in the Sun Chronicle featured David Mellor, the head groundskeeper of Fenway Park. The article states that David's grandfather, Bill Mellor, coached at Brown University and some other colleges, as well as in the Blackstone Valley League. This was the same Bill Mellor, according to an August 17, 2008 article in the Boston Herald which carries a biography of Bill.

Per the article, Bill was a star pitcher at Brown, later transferring to the University of Virginia. He worked in a wool mill with a young Nap Lajoie, who went on to play major league baseball. After he became a star, Lajoie asked a newspaper reporter to track down Mellor, who Lajoie had seen play in a "recreational league" in the wool mill days. That was done, and it may have helped Mellor get a job with the Columbus Senators. He made the majors but then was injured. The Baltimore team moved away from Baltimore after the 1902 season; Mellor returned to Columbus and later played minor league ball in New England also.

Related Sites

• Find-A-Grave Memorial for Bill Mellor