I, like many other sports fans, was sitting around watching football on a Saturday that seemed like any other when I heard the news. My initial reaction was that of the classic “Noooooo!” for my father read what I knew in my heart to be true but had been dreading nonetheless. The great Billy Baseball Mueller a.k.a “Mullah” has in fact retired from playing Major League Baseball. He is a super professional and personality that simply cannot be replaced.
Our great resident blogger Trynn Diesel first fell in love Mullah on a fall day back in 2003. As the Boston Red Sox entered the post-season for the first time in 4 years, the fandemonium was out of this world. It would later lead to T-shirts, Red Sox Tickets, pictures, and classic computer backgrounds in honor of her “man”.
2003 was a season of change for the Old Towne Team, bringing in a lot of new faces causing skepticism, doubt, and much grumbling on sports radio. New first basemen arrived from various cities, including Kevin Millar, days away from bring shipped to Japan; Jeremy Giambi, the not nearly as talented brother of famous Yankees slugger Jason Giambi; and finally David Ortiz, a player the Minnesota Twins had been waiting to rise to his potential but ran out of patience. At third base a new player was brought in from the San Francisco Giants by the name of Bill Mueller, but the sox already had a young third baseman Shea Hillenbrand.
Obviously this situation could not work forever and Jeremy Giambi disappeared and Shea was traded to Arizona, where he whined and lashed out, a trend that would lead to his future dismissal from the Toronto Blue Jays. The path was now clear for Mullah to rise up and play classic dirt dog baseball on his way to the 2003 AL batting title. Although Bill and the Red Sox suffered a huge disappointment in the 2003 playoffs, as they always say in Boston there’s always next year.
2004 brought many of the same faces to Fenway including that of Bill Mueller. Although he did not win the batting title, his bat could not have brought more to the Red Sox. Perhaps his most famous Red Sox moment occurred in July of 2004. On a rainy Saturday, the Sox were scheduled to play the Yankees. The Yankees assumed the game would not occur and were ready to leave when the Sox said I don’t think so, we’re playing this game today. So perhaps one of the most recognized fights in all of baseball took place when Alex Rodriguez decided Bronson Arroyo intentionally threw a 75 mph curve ball at him. Eager to prove his devotion to the pin stripes, he picked a fight with the 100 lb Arroyo, only to find none other than Jason Varitek in his way. Too fired up to stop, A-Rod quickly asked Varitek if he would like to go? Varitek attempted to reason with the hysterical A-Rod but to no use. Varitek finally gave A-Rod what he wanted in the form of some face hitting and a classic WWF style body slam. Benches cleared etc, some excellent side fights took place, but the game continued. Red Sox Nation was more fired up than ever and found themselves down in the bottom of the ninth. Bill Mueller stepped to the plate and hit a game winning HR to the bullpen off arguably the greatest closer of all time to lift the Red Sox hopes and hearts to make the playoffs.
Bill’s batting contributions did not stop there. Many people will never forget Dave Roberts stealing second base to score the tying run in Game 4 of the ALCS against the Yankees. One cannot argue that Roberts was a hero and they could not have won without him, but what if the next batter had not hit a single but struck out or grounded out. Fortunately for the Nation, Bill Mueller stepped up to the plate and hit a single again off of Rivera, the most feared closer in baseball. The rest is history.
There are many moments and even players in those 2003 and 2004 season that overshadow Bill Mueller. He was content and proud to show up to the ballpark everyday and give it his all and let others such as Millar (Cowboy Up), Johnny (Bunch of Idiots), or Ortiz (Walk-off hits in ALCS) shine. He knew what the game was about and what he was about, and Red Sox Nation could not have been luckier to have him. Dan Shaunessy of the Boston Globe wrote a wonderful
tribute to Bill Mueller when he sadly but quietly left the Red Sox in the 2005 off-season. I feel Shaunessy sums up the feeling of the Nation best in his concluding paragraphs, though I hope you take time to read it all…
But when you look at Doug's ball or the World Series trophy or the banner that'll forever fly over Fenway, remember the quiet guy who did so much to bring that happiness to the Nation: Bill Mueller. Stealth Star in a clubhouse of Idiots and Cowboy Uppers.
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