A little-known player becoming a beloved contributor for the Boston Red
Sox is personified by Bill Mueller.
Mueller, a switch-hitting third baseman, is a native of
Missouri. He attended Southwest Missouri State and graduated as perhaps their
best player of all time, leaving as the school leader in hits, runs and stolen
bases among a number of categories. He played both third and shortstop during
his tenure and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame
in 2004.
As a college senior in 1993, Mueller hit .371 with 11 home
runs, earning his conference’s Player of the Year Award, and was also named
team MVP. His performance led to him being taken in the 15th round
by the San Francisco Giants in that year’s draft.
Mueller was a career .306 hitter in the minors but showed
very little power. However, he was brought up to the Giants in 1996, and hit
.330 in 55 games.
The impressive debut of Mueller was enough to earn him the
Giants’ starting third base job in 1997 and he held on to it through the 2000
season, as a solid, but spectacular player.
Mueller was traded to the Chicago Cubs prior to the 2001
season, but was traded back to the Giants towards the end of 2002. By that time
he had regressed to a platoon player, who played decent defense, but was mostly
a singles hitter at the plate.
Granted free agency, Mueller signed with the Red Sox before
the 2003 season; a move that changed his career forever.
Coming into 2003, the Red Sox were at the height of their
rivalry with the New York Yankees. They were putting contending teams on the
field, but couldn’t break through to the World Series. GM Theo Epstein began
bringing in good clubhouse guys like Mueller, Johnny Damon and Kevin Millar in
what would prove to be a master stroke.
Mueller had the best season of his career in 2003, winning
the AL batting title with a .326 mark, while hitting 19 home runs and driving
in 95 runs. Unfortunately, Boston’s season came to an excruciating end in the
ALCS when the New York Yankees knocked them out of the playoffs on Aaron
Boone’s dramatic walk-off home run against Tim Wakefield.
Mueller struggled with injuries in 2004, appearing in just
110 games. However, he did hit .283 with 12 home runs and 57 RBI. The regular season was simply a prelude to a
magical post season, which saw the Red Sox win their first World Series title since
1918 in improbable fashion. Mueller was part of the glory, hitting .321 during
the postseason, and participating in some of the most memorable moments in
October.
With age and injuries catching up to him, Mueller played one
more season in Boston before finishing his playing career with 32 games with
the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2006. In an 11-year major league career, he hit .291
with 85 home runs and 493 RBI. More information about his career statistics is
available at BaseballReference.com.
Despite such modest numbers, Mueller will always be
remembered fondly for his gritty play and for the role he played in helping
bring a World Series trophy to Boston for the first time in decades.
These days, Mueller is still involved in baseball, working
as an assistant to Dodgers’ general manage Ned Colletti through last season. He
has since become a fulltime scout. He seems to be one of those guys who just
has baseball in his blood and will be around the game for the rest of his
life—which if true, would be a good thing.
Bill Mueller
Questionnaire:
Who was your favorite
coach or manager?: My dad.
What was the
strangest thing you ever saw as a player?: People jumping on the field and
running around.
What was the best prank
you ever saw in baseball?: I liked the rookie getting his jersey switched
to someone else’s and him sitting on bench during the game, not knowing.
If you could do
anything differently about your career, what would that be?: Be more of an
RBI guy earlier in my career.
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