Thankfully, Mel was a great signer during the course of his long life. He was also the first and last man to pitch in Municipal Stadium. I exchanged several letters with him and visited him once at his home in Chardon, Ohio. I'm not certain, but Mel could very well have the longest professional association with the Indians. He pitched for them from 1928-47 then went on to coach for 23 seasons!
Mel was briefly teammates with another nearly-forgotten legend, Joe Hauser. Hauser was playing his last MLB season as Harder was just coming up.
"I was just eighteen years old and Joe was a star," Mel told me. "He treated me very well. I haven't seen him in sixty years but I've never forgotten his warm reception." When I asked Joe about Mel later on in the year, he recalled Harder as being a "Good kid". Keep in mind that Harder would be 101 years old today (and Joe 111)!
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