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 twenty-first birthday, making him the second-youngest debut for the Mariners at that time (only Ken Griffey, Jr. was younger). Pitching with a 2-1 lead over the Anaheim Angels and two outs in the sixth, Meche walked two consecutive batters to force in a run and surrender the lead. He ended up with a no-decision. His first win came on July 19 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. For the season, Meche went 8-4 with a 4.73 earned run average.\n', '

Meche lost his first four decisions of the 2000 season. On June 13, 2000, he tossed a one-hitter against the Kansas City Royals. After coming back to go 4-0 with a 2.64 ERA through his July 4 start against Anaheim, Meche was lifted in the sixth inning having thrown 113 pitches. His season was cut short due to what was thought at the time to be a dead arm. He went 1-2 with a 3.15 ERA in five rehab starts, but did not pitch at the major league level again for the rest of the season.\n', '

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