- Les Mueller
Leslie Clyde Mueller (born
March 4 ,1919 inBelleville, Illinois ) is a former right-handed pitcher inMajor League Baseball who played for theDetroit Tigers in 1941 and 1945.In 1940, Mueller played for the
Beaumont Exporters in theTexas League and threw a no-hitter onAugust 22 ,1940 against Dallas. The following year, Mueller reached the big leagues, pitching four games for the Detroit Tigers. He enlisted in the Army after the United States entered World War II and missed the next three seasons. After a physical revealed that he had a hernia, Mueller received a medical discharge in late 1944. [http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&pid=10085&bid=18]Mueller rejoined the Tigers for the 1945 season, going 6-8 in 26 games, including 18 games as a starter.
On
April 17 ,1945 , Mueller facedPete Gray , the St. Louis Browns' famous one-armed outfielder, in Gray's first major league game. Gray got his first major league hit off Mueller, the first of 51 hits for Gray in 1945.On
July 21 ,1945 , Mueller put in one of the greatest pitching performances in major league history. Mueller pitched the first 19-2/3 innings for the Tigers and left having given up only 1 run. No pitcher has thrown as many innings in a major league game since Mueller's feat. The game lasted 4 hours and 48 minutes before umpireBill Summers called the game a tie due to darkness at 7:48 p.m. (Shibe Park had lights, but the American League had a rule against using the lights during a scheduled day game.)When Tigers manager
Steve O'Neill removed Mueller, the pitcher asked, "Gee, Steve, the game isn't over, is it?" (Source: "Baseball's Unforgettable Games," by Joe Reichler and Ben Olan.)Mueller also pitched 2 scoreless innings in Game 1 of the
1945 World Series .Mueller was sent to the minors in 1946 and finishe his career pitching in Buffalo, Newark, and Kansas City.
After his baseball career ended, Mueller returned to Belleville, Illinois, where he worked in the family's furniture store until he retired in 1984. [http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&pid=10085&bid=18]
ee also
*
1945 Detroit Tigers season External links
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/muellle01.shtml Baseball-Reference.com]
* [http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&pid=10085&bid=18 SABR Biography of Mueller by Jim Sargent]
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Les_Mueller_1919&page=chronology BaseballLibrary.com]
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