I saw that!!! I am so happy for them!!!!



--- In thegreatbillmueller@yahoogroups.com, "smeebig7"
<warrenfam@a...> wrote:
> I read the first one this morning, too! Did any of you see him on
> the local news, last night? It made me SO happy! By the way, was
> anybody else at all surprised to read that Billy and his wife now
> have a second daughter? I was! Congratulations to them! That's
so
> nice! Isn't Alexis just basely 15 months old? (She was born on
> January 14, 2003, correct?) Do any of you know the baby's name,
> and/or when she was born? :) Congratulations, Bill and Amy!
> SmeeBig7 (smeebig7)/Billy's Gal.
>
> --- In thegreatbillmueller@yahoogroups.com, "Melissa"
<mkt1384@h...>
> wrote:
> > So I woke up this morning and found an bunch of articles written
> > about Bill at spring training. Here is one of them. Enjoy. This
one
> > was taken off of the NESN Web Page. There is one at
www.redsox.com,
> > and www.bostonherald.com, as well as the Providence Journal.
Happy
> > reading.
> > ~Melissa
> >
> > Not your average AL batting champ
> > By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff, 2/27/2004
> >
> > FORT MYERS, Fla. -- So, just how transforming a life event is it
to
> > win the American League batting title?
> >
> > ADVERTISEMENT
> >
> > Invitations to the hottest parties, reservations at the choicest
> > tables in town, endorsement deals, and a whole host of new best
> > friends?
> >
> > "Not at all," Bill Mueller said yesterday. "I stayed home. You
> know,
> > I don't do much. I like being at home and just being a dad. This
> was
> > our first offseason with our daughter, having a lot more
> interaction
> > with her being a year old, and moving into the new home and
having
> a
> > second daughter. That stuff is more gratifying to me than getting
a
> > table at a restaurant or anything like that, or being known.
> >
> > "I prefer being under the radar and just go about my business,
> > because that's what I play for, for the love of competing and
> playing
> > and being a part of a group of guys than to be recognized or
> signing
> > an autograph or something like that."
> >
> > Mueller hit .326 last season, 40 percentage points above his
career
> > average of .286 entering the year. His batting title was the 25th
> in
> > Red Sox history, the first won by a switch hitter, and the 11th
won
> > by a Red Sox player in the last 25 seasons, more than any other
> team.
> > Four of the last five titles have been won by a Sox player: Nomar
> > Garciaparra won back-to-back titles in 1999 and 2000, and Manny
> > Ramirez won in 2002 (and finished a percentage point behind
Mueller
> > last season).
> >
> > But where other batting champions have basked in strobe lights,
> > Mueller opts for the 50-watt bulb. If you notice, fine. If you
> don't,
> > that's OK, too.
> >
> > He had a miserable spring training, when the Sox were still
trying
> to
> > figure out what to do with Mueller when Shea Hillenbrand was
still
> > around to play third base, but he began to hit in April (.315)
and
> > never stopped. He hit .300 or better every month except June
> (.253),
> > maxing out in May (.418) but still going strong in September
(.333).
> >
> > He led the club in doubles with 45, hit a career-high 19 home
runs,
> > and made history on July 29 in Texas, when he became the first
> player
> > in big league history to hit grand slams from both sides of the
> plate
> > in the same game.
> >
> > "That was ridiculous," he said.
> >
> > What was sublime was what he brought to this ball club, which the
> > numbers can only begin to measure. New manager Terry Francona
> wasn't
> > here last season, but he saw enough of Mueller when he was
managing
> > in Philadelphia and Mueller was playing for the Giants to know
what
> > he meant to the Sox last season.
> >
> > "When he was with the Giants and I was with the Phillies, I hated
> > him," Francona said. "His uniform was always dirty, and if he
went
> 1
> > for 4, his hit was the one that beat you. He's the kind of guy
you
> > love having. He plays the game right. He's a pro. We have a lot
of
> > those guys."
> >
> > When general manager Theo Epstein elected to offer Mueller a two-
> year
> > deal last winter, which was one year more than anybody else was
> > willing to give him, including the Cubs -- a team that needed a
> third
> > baseman and hoped to bring him back after a two-year stint in
> > Chicago -- he was taking a chance on a guy still showing the
> effects
> > of major knee surgery just two years earlier, which had reduced
him
> > to a part-time player.
> >
> > With the Sox, you couldn't get Mueller out of the lineup. After
> > taking over as the regular third baseman when Hillenbrand was
> traded
> > in late May, Mueller wound up appearing in 146 games, sitting
only
> > when he required some emergency dental work.
> >
> > The uncertainty that admittedly caused him to press in an attempt
> to
> > make a good first impression last spring has been replaced by the
> > knowledge that Francona will be writing his name on his lineup
card
> > most every day. The Sox brought in a backup, Mark Bellhorn, who
can
> > play both second and third, but for Mueller, that's a mixed
> blessing.
> > He pointed to Garciaparra and his 700-plus plate appearances as a
> > standard to which he aspires.
> >
> > Mueller struggled in the postseason, with just two hits in 19 at-
> bats
> > (.105) against the A's in the Division Series, and .222 (6 for
27)
> > against the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.
He
> > did not drive in a run in 12 postseason games and scored just
one.
> > But leave it to Mueller to find a glass-half-full take on the
> > experience.
> >
> > "It's not about me personally and my statistics," he said. "It's
> > about how we're all contributing as a group. It's about wins and
> > losses.
> >
> > "I take a positive out of Game 7," he said of the elimination
> > loss. "It was the first time in my career that I ever had the
> thought
> > I was going to the World Series, to have that thought going
through
> > my mind. That's a great feeling, and I want to get to that
feeling
> > and thought process again. I feel like I have a great shot at
> getting
> > to the World Series. That's it."