Don Mueller
Donald Frederick Mueller was an American professional baseball player who played mainly as a right fielder in Major League Baseball for 12 seasons from 1948 until 1959. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed, and played for the New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox. He earned the nickname "Mandrake the Magician" for being adept at consistently putting the ball in play and delivering hits through the infield.
Career
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 and led the National League 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.