Mel Civil

Melwood Emanuel Civil
(Mello)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 174 lb.

• Born November 2, 1946 in U.S. Virgin Islands

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

People on St. Croix will tell you that Mel Civil was as good as any outfielder the Virgin Islands ever produced. He spent nine seasons in the minors, including two at AAA, but never made the majors. Of average size and bow-legged, Civil was still a fast runner with a strong arm.

Courtesy of superscout Howie Haak, Civil was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1964. Debuting that summer with the Batavia Pirates, he hit .265/.350/.421 but made 20 errors in 43 games at second base and 15 errors in 32 games at third, prompting his move to the outfield the next year. He was last in the New York-Penn League in fielding percentage at both 2B (.895) and 3B (.821). In '65, he fell to .218/.301/.330 in a repeat engagement with Batavia. He then did a hitch in Vietnam (missing the 1966 and 1967 seasons). In 1968, he returned to the minors with the Clinton Pilots (.235/.269/.282 in 70 G) and Gastonia Pirates (.259/.398/.362 in 29 G). Oddly, he drew more walks (12) in his time with Gastonia than in his much longer time with Clinton (10 BB there).

With the 1969 Salem Rebels, Civil blossomed. He posted a .306/.354/.463 batting line with 28 doubles, 9 triples, 13 home runs, 36 steals in 46 tries, 93 runs and 83 RBI. He led the Carolina League in steals, at-bats (542), hits (166) and times caught stealing. He was second in outfielder fielding percentage (.983, 2nd to Robert Speer), tied for 5th in outfield assists (16, even with Ronnie Chambers) and led in putouts in the outfield (339). He was 4th in the league in average (between Ron Lolich and Chambers), 3rd in runs (behind Rusty Torres and Lou Quinn), tied Quinn for 4th in triples, tied Art Kusnyer and Torres for 8th in home runs, was second in doubles (4 behind Cesar Cedeno), ranked 4th in RBI (after Greg Luzinski, Lolich and Sam Parrilla) and placed 5th in slugging (between Tim Hosley and Torres). He was named to the Carolina League All-Star team, joining Lolich and Parrilla in the outfield.

By 1970, Civil was with the Waterbury Pirates. He hit .282/.394/.417 with 25 doubles, 70 runs, 69 RBI, 29 steals (in 33 tries) and 88 walks. He finished among the Eastern League leaders in average (10th), OBP (5th, between Rick Stelmaszek and Larry Biittner), walks (tied for 3rd behind Joe Pactwa and Stelmaszek) and steals (2nd, 3 behind teammate Gene Clines). He was named an EL All-Star outfielder, sharing that honor with Clines and Dennis Baldridge. Among those he beat out was Waterbury's third outfielder, Richie Zisk, who led the EL in home runs while posting a better average than Civil. Led by their fine outfield, Waterbury won the EL title.

Civil rose as high as Triple-A with the Charleston Charlies in 1971, going to spring training with the big club. However, Civil was stuck behind The Great Lumber Company outfield of Willie Stargell, Al Oliver, and Roberto Clemente, and Clines beat him out for the backup spot. He also played on loan to the Indians organization that year at Triple-A Wichita. For the year, he hit .253/.339/.515 in 31 games for Charleston and .220/.288/.301 in 65 contests for the Wichita Aeros.

Apparently the St. Louis Cardinals had interest in him, but the Pirates may have hidden him by sending him down to Double-A. Another explanation is that the Pittsburgh system was so crammed that Zisk and Dick Sharon were stranded in the Charleston outfield. Assigned to the Sherbrooke Pirates, he batted .294/.346/.395 with 27 doubles, 81 runs and 18 steals (in 23 tries) in 1972 and .261/.326/.408 in 1973. In '72, he was 7th in the EL in average (between Dave Augustine and Jim Campanis) and first with 8 sacrifice flies. In '73, he had a whopping 22 outfield assists (one ahead of Tony Scott for the EL lead) and four double plays (leading the EL). He also stole 19 bases while being caught just twice, putting him in the league's top 10 in swipes. His production on offense had fallen each of his three years in AA, though, not a good sign.

Mel played 46 games in Mexico in 1974 and hit .310/.416/.407 with 27 runs and 27 RBI for the Indios de Ciudad Juarez, but he quit "because of the 32-hour bus rides!"

Back at home in St. Croix, he became Sergeant Civil of the National Guard. He remained in touch with Dock Ellis, a minor-league teammate who was also very close to Al McBean when he first reached the majors.

Sources include 1965-1975 Baseball Guides

Related Sites

• Howie Haak and Virgin Islands Baseball