Carl “Stump” Merrill
“Stump” Merrill is only 45 but he has already notched several achievements in the baseball world and is now recognized as one of the best teachers of young minor leaguers.
As a catcher at Brunswick High, Merrill was so outstanding - he hit .330, .360, and .400-that he was acclaimed Maine’s #1 high school catcher in a recent poll conducted by the Portland Press Herald.
And he was so impressive on both diamond and gridiron that he was welcomed at the University of Maine at Orono, where he became one of the Black Bears’ best. It was at Orono that “The Stumper’ performed for Jack Butterfield (Maine H O F’er ‘80). This would prove critical in Carl’s career because the astute Butterfield would later open the door to New York Yankee baseball for his one-time field general. In 1964 the Black Bears-with Butterfield at the helm, the stocky 5’8” Merrill behind the plate, a superb Joe Ferris on the mound, and a sparkling Dick Devarney at shortstop became the first UMO team to participate in the College World Series. And what a debut it was! Merrill and his mates finished third in the nation with a 3-2 record.
“Stump spent six years in the Phillies organization, where he eventually attained AAA status at Eugene in the Pacific Coast League. He was always considered an excellent receiver, a fine handler of pitchers and a top-notch leader. It was inevitable that he would become a teacher of the game. After a stint as a coach under John Winkin at UMO and a short but successful career in the American Legion ranks he returned to the pro ranks with the Yankees.
With the Yankees over the past 13 years “Stump” has done just about everything. He has been a loyal, dependable, hard-working “company man’. He has managed at every level of the minor leagues and he has amassed an enviable record. He has notched over 600 wins and at one point had 5 pennants in 7 years, including the 1984 International League flag at Columbus. He has enjoyed brief periods as a coach with the parent Yankees. Although he began the 1989 season as the Coordinator of Minor League Operations for the Yankees, he soon was back in the dugout and at press time he was the manager of the Prince William Cannons in the Class A Carolina League.
Although his first love is baseball, Merrill is also recognized for his football coaching as an aide at Bowdoin and had been acclaimed as a stellar basketball official until a degenerative arthritic knee began to slow him down.
“The Stumper” residers in Topsham with his wife Carol and Daughters Leslie and Carin.
Welcome to the Hall of Fame to Maine’s #1 New York Yankee.
https://goblackbears.com/news/2018/10/4/2018-umaine-sports-hall-of-fame-inductee-1964-baseball-team.aspx
From Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stump_Merrill
Carl Harrison "Stump" Merrill (born February 15, 1944 in Brunswick, Maine) is a former manager in Major League Baseball who served as manager of the New York Yankees in 1990 and 1991. Merrill has spent four decades in the Yankees organization, and has also managed several of the Yankees' minor league affiliates.
https://www.wabi.tv/content/sports/Stump-Merrill-483530791.html
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