In the spirit of putting my hands over my ears, squeezing my eyes shut, and ignoring the injury epidemic that is running rampant through the Red Sox camp, I bring you another edition of Red Sox Rundown’s What Happened To? segment. Today we look at Bill Mueller, former third baseman for the Boston Red Sox.
My favorite Bill Mueller memory is easily the two grand slams he hit in a single game in 2003. The memory is marred slightly, though: while watching the game on TV, I stepped out to use the restroom during the game - something I rarely did. I came back to replays of Bill Mueller hitting his first grand slam. Then, the next inning, during an apparently abnormally short commercial break, I decided to switch TVs. I flipped on the second TV just in time for - you guessed it - replays of Bill Mueller’s second grand slam. 
Only this time, the TV I had chosen was in such good condition I could only hear the replays of the hit until the set warmed up sufficiently to actually show me a picture. Oh well.
Mueller’s three-year tenure with the Sox ended after the 2005 season. In three seasons with the club, he batted .303, including .326 in 2003, when he won the AL batting title. He was a steady fielder, making forty-four errors in three years. Mike Lowell has made only 31 errors in three seasons with the Sox, but Lowell’s .975 fielding percentage at third base is the best in MLB history for players with at least 1,000 games at the hot corner. Mueller, like Lowell, was known as a good clubhouse guy who got the job done with no complaints. Both players are unselfish professionals who played through injuries to help their team.
Mueller left Boston in 2005 as a free agent and signed a two-year deal with the LA Dodgers. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Mueller played only 32 games in 2006 before his third knee surgery ended his career. The Dodgers graciously hired him in 2007 as a special assistant to GM Ned Colletti. Colletti, who was assistant GM for the Giants when they drafted Mueller in 1993, used Mueller to assist with scouting, player development, and player evaluation.
Mueller did not even spend a full season in this position, though, before becoming interim hitting coach for the Dodgers in June of 2007. This is unsurprising, given both his prowess at the plate and his willingness to do whatever it takes to help his team (Mueller played 29 games at second base for the Sox and even filled in for an inning at shortstop).
The Dodgers had led the NL with their .276 batting average in 2006, but it slumped to .261 in 2007 before Mueller took over as hitting coach. Mueller was able to raise the team batting average to .275 by the end of the year and the word “interim” was removed from his title after only one month on the job. How’s this for irony: in 2007, Bill Mueller was Nomar Garciaparra’s batting coach under manager Grady Little, whom they had both played for just a few years earlier. After the 2007 season, Mueller returned to the front office of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Although he announced in early 2008 he’d love to return to the field as a player again, he would need to regrow cartilege in his knees to even have a shot at it. Let us know how that works out for you, Billy.
I predict Jason Varitek’s post-player career will follow a similar path to Mueller’s. Both guys are hard-working, team-first players who love the game of baseball. Varitek would be a tremendous asset to any team as a bullpen coach, and don’t be surprised if the Red Sox offer him the role after his current contract expires. Mueller has been a success both on and off the field, and leaves an admirable legacy of professionalism, hard work, and grit.
