In Memory of the Passing of New York Giants Don Mueller (1927-2011)

Don Frederick Mueller was born April 14, 1927, at St. Louis, Missouri. The tall six foot outfielder was known as "Mandrake the Magician" because he always found a hole to hit into. His father Walter Mueller played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the twenties batting .275 over four seasons.

Don was signed by the New York Giants in 1944 and would hit well over .300 every season by the time he arrived at AAA Jersey City.

He made his debut in August 1948 when Leo Durocher had replaced Mel Ott as manager. Mueller hit got a hit and an RBI in his first at bat against the St. Louis Cardinals as a pinch hitter. On the year he would hit .358 (29-81) playing in 36 games making a good impression. He made the Giants team the next season but was only hitting .232 in August when he was sent down to finish out the year back at Jersey City.

1950 would be his official rookie season & he would bat .291 with 7 HRs 15 doubles & 84 RBIs. Mueller was mainly a singles hitter, hitting 125 that season (6th in the league) & leading the league twice (1954 & 1955). He was one of the most difficult men to strikeout during his playing days, never striking out more than 26 times in a season. In 1951 he only struck out 13 times in 493 at bats, batting .277.

In the Giants amazing pennant run that summer Mueller hit well. On the seasons he hit a career high 16 HRs, with 69 RBIs, something team mate Sal Yvars credited to the Giants sign stealing in the Polo Grounds.

On September 1st, the Giants were seven games back when the two teams faced off in the Polo Grounds. Mueller had a career day bashing three HRs, two off of Ralph Branca as well as driving in five runs in the Giants 8-1 victory. The next day Mueller hit another two HRs, a three run shot off Don Newcombe & a two run shot off Phil Haugstad whom he had homered off the day before as well.

The Dodger lead was now down to five & throughout the month they would battle ending up tied on the last day of the season forcing the classic three game playoff. In the month of September Mueller hit 6 HRs & drove in 22 runs.

In the final 1951 playoff game against Brooklyn Mueller singled in the bottom of the 9th inning with New York trailing 4-1. With one out, Whitey Lockman doubled to scoring a run and advancing Mueller to third. As he slid into third base Mueller broke his ankle and had to be carried off the field on a stretcher.

Bobby Thomson's was the next batter, “Instead of thinking about being the next hitter, I see Don lying on the ground,” Thomson told The New York Times. “It took my mind completely off the game.” He then hit his famous game-winning (shot heard round the world) HR that won the pennant. Mueller did not play in the World Series because of the injury.

His replacement had a horrible Series especially with runners in scoring position. Monte Irvin said years later the Giants would have won the 1951 Series had Mueller been in the lineup.

Two seasons later he hit .333 (5th in the league) with 160 hits 12 doubles 6 HRs & 60 RBIs. Although he didn’t strike out much & was a good hitter, he didn’t walk much so he put up low on base percentages. That season he posted a .360 %.

In the Giants 1954 Championship season he had his best year leading the league with 212 hits, and finishing second to teammate Willie Mays in the NL batting race batting at .342.

He made his first All Star appearance, finished twelfth in the MVP voting and had career highs in doubles (35) runs scored (90) triples (8) & on base % (.363) He also had 71 RBIs with 4 HRs playing in all but one of the Giants 154 games. In the outfield he led all NL outfielders with 14 assists posting .979 fielding % second best in the league.

Post Season: In the 1954 Fall Classic Don hit .389 going 7 -18 scoring four runs in the Giants to sweep over the Cleveland Indians.

In Game #1 at the Polo Grounds Mueller went 2 -5 scoring a run & driving in the Giants first run of the series. In Game #3 at Cleveland he went 2 - 5 and scored two more runs. In the fourth & final Game #4 he had his best day getting three hits & scoring another run.

In 1955 he made his second All Star appearance, coming in fifth in the league with 185 hits, batting .306 and driving in a career high 83 runs. He struck out just twelve times in 605 at bats, giving him the lowest strike out ration in the league for the third of four straight seasons, five times leading the league in that category overall. His seven sac flies were 8th best in the league.

He did not hit well after 1955 dropping to .269 in 1956 and then into the .250 area the next two years. In the outfield he led the league in fielding two more times (1956 & 1957) as well as having 13 more assists from the outfield in 1957. His contract was purchased by the White Sox in 1958 as the Giants left New York & he retired the next season at age 32.

In his 12 year career, he hit .296 lifetime, only striking out 146 times in 4,364 at bats. He had 1292 hits with hit 65 HRs 139 doubles 37 triples & drove in 520 runs while scoring 499 in 1245 games played. In the outfield he posted a .981 fielding % (63rd all time) with 69 assists.

Mueller passed away right before New Year's at the age of 84 in suburban St. Louis.