Someone forgot to tell Bill Mueller that he’s not supposed to be here.
He’s neither a pitcher nor a catcher. He’s a different breed.
“He’s a consummate baseball player in that I don’t think he has a whole lot of other interests,” hitting coach Jeff Pentland said. “Baseball is what he really wants to excel at, so he works at it.”
He works at it so intently that manager Don Baylor should consider carrying a set of leg irons. That might be the only way to keep Mueller off the practice fields.
“I sat him down and told him not to take too many groundballs and then I see him on the half-field there with [Kevin] Orie taking a lot of groundballs,” Baylor said. “I’m going to have to watch him.”
Can Baylor do anything to prevent Mueller from working overtime?
“Whatever I say is not going to work with him,” Baylor said. “I can’t have any instructors out there (with him).”
Too late. Mueller had Pentland meet him at a batting cage at 8 a.m. Sunday. Pentland flipped balls to him, allowing Mueller to work on his right-handed swing. Then he worked on his left-handed swing.
“He has the fever for being as good as he can be,” Pentland said.
At least Mueller has an excuse for having shown up almost a week ago. He never gave his left leg enough time to recover from a ghastly injury in May.
Mueller broke his left kneecap and tore a thigh muscle in pursuit of a foul pop along the third-base stands. While making a sliding attempt, his knee crashed into the metal beneath the padding at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium.
Mueller endured months of rehabilitation before returning to the lineup in August. He probably should have stayed away longer, but he wasn’t about to pass up a chance to help the Cubs make the playoffs.
“Sure it wasn’t the best (situation),” he said. “But you don’t get too many shots at that, so you want to do anything you can to help.”
Mueller was not the same player after he came back. He hit .317 with five homers in 36 games before the injury and .262 with one homer in 34 games after it.
What he has to show for it now is a purple scar on his knee.
“To me it looks great–clean as a whistle,” he said. “If you had seen it after surgery, jeez, it looked horrible for a long time.
“It was a pretty rough injury, but it’s over and I don’t want to think about it or dwell on it. This year it will be like nothing ever happened. I want to be quicker, faster and better. That’s my mind-set.”
Baylor is insistent Mueller take some days off this spring. He doesn’t want to see Mueller overexert himself so many weeks before Opening Day.
“He’s one of those throwback guys who will never tell you when he’s hurt or when he’s had enough,” Baylor said. “I’m going to be the one who will do it (for him).”
Mueller, 31, is slated to be a free agent after the season. He hasn’t talked about an extension with the Cubs, who also want to see whether prospect David Kelton’s arm is good enough for third base.
Mueller says he isn’t concerned.
“I just enjoy playing, wherever it’s at or whoever (it’s for),” he said. “My favorite position is on the field.”
