Gil Meche

Meche, who is Cajun, was a star pitcher at Acadiana High School in his hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana, and was a member of the U.S. Junior Olympic team that brought home gold in the 1995 World Junior Baseball Championship. After his junior year of high school, Meche earned Most Valuable Pitcher honors at the 1995 National Amateur All-Star Tournament at just sixteen years old. However, shortly afterwards, he suffered a viral infection that caused him to miss a considerable amount of playing time his senior year. Nonetheless, Meche was named to the All-America Second Team by the American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings. He intended to attend Louisiana State University, but reconsidered when the Seattle Mariners surprised him by selecting him in the first round of the 1996 Major League Baseball draft.\n', '

Meche debuted with the Mariners on July 6, 1999, two months shy of his…