Mueller was born in
St. Louis, Missouri, on April 14, 1927. His father,
Walter Mueller, was also a major leaguer who spent parts of four seasons during the 1920s with the
Pittsburgh Pirates. The younger Mueller was signed as an amateur free agent out of
Christian Brothers College High School by the Giants in 1944.
New York Giants Mueller spent the first ten seasons of his major league career with the Giants, for whom he
batted over .300 for three consecutive seasons (1953–1955) and led the
National League (NL) in hits in 1954 with 212. Mueller played a central, but painful, role in the famous October 3, 1951, playoff game that won the
NL pennant for the Giants. With New York trailing the
Brooklyn Dodgers, 4–1, in the ninth inning, Mueller
singled Alvin Dark to third base. With one out,
Whitey Lockman doubled to score Dark, but Mueller sprained his ankle sliding into third. He was replaced by a pinch-runner,
Clint Hartung, and carried from the field just before
Bobby Thomson's "
Shot Heard 'Round the World" won the game and the pennant for the Giants. Mueller missed the
1951 World Series due to his injury. In 1954, Mueller
hit for the cycle on July 11, finished second to teammate
Willie Mays in the NL batting race, and hit .389 in the
World Series to help lead the Giants to a four-game sweep of the
Cleveland Indians. In Game 1 of the Series, Mueller was playing right field when Mays made "
The Catch" in center field.
Chicago White Sox Mueller finished his playing career with the White Sox, appearing in 70 games in 1958, and four games in 1959. He was released on May 15, 1959.
Statistics In 1,245 MLB
games played (1,171 as a Giant) Mueller compiled 1,292 hits, including 139 doubles, 37
triples and 65 home runs. He had 520 RBIs, and a career batting average of .296 with an
OPS of .712. While he never hit more than 16 home runs in a season, he hit five home runs in two days, on September 1 and 2, 1951. ==Personal life==