Mike Muhlethaler, Loosey-Goosey - 26

-
Originally published March 13, 2014
Mike Muhlethaler did his best to keep his pro dreams alive in 1990 by calling an old coach and scout, according to The Los Angeles Times.

What he got was an audience of two scouts, both for batting practice and in that night's game, according to The Times.

"I just went out there loosey-goosey," Muhlethaler told The Times. "All I did was swing free and easy."

And, with hot play down the stretch, Muhlethaler found himself just where he wanted to be: The pros. His pro stint, though, ended up being a brief one. His professional career lasted just a single season, 62 games.

Muhlethaler turned pro in June 1990, after being taken by the Athletics in the 39th round of the draft out of the University of California, Berkeley.

Muhlethaler went to Berkeley after graduating from Crescenta Valley High School in California. There, Muhlethaler also played football, winning a Times award for back of the year in his area.

As a pro, Muhlethaler was sent to short-season Southern Oregon. In a mid-July, he smacked his second home run on the year.

For the season as a whole, Mulethaler ended up hitting .256, with four home runs and knocking in 31. He didn't come back for a second season.

Browse By:

-Player Name
-Player Team
-Date Featured

Players A to Z

Popular posts from this blog

Features from the 1990 minor league sets (By Date)

-
Image
What happened to your favorite minor league team in 1990? Find out here. Since late 2009, the players of 1990 have been featured at Greatest21Days.com, one at a time. Here, they've been ordered here by the date published, newest first.  Every player has a story. With the help of contemporaneous newspaper articles, find that story here. Most recent players added July 13 ,  2025 Features in order of when the y appeared: July 2025 Trenidad Hubbard  dreamed, made bigs over 10 seasons,  7/13/25 Glenn Davis  got help, went from tough youth to ML star, 7/12/25 Matt Rambo   had jitters early, saw 5 seasons, AA, injury, 7/9/25 Bryan Foster  improved enough for 5 pro seasons, high-A, 7/6/25 T.J. Lucin  hoped to be FMLBBP, saw 2 seasons, single-A, 7/5/25 Edwin Valentin  saw 3 seasons, single-A, from Puerto Rico, 7/1/25 June 2025 Perry Berry  saw 4 seasons, high-A, went into education , 6/30/25 Jorge Pineda  made perfect throw, played one pr...
Read more

Interview: Joe Xavier followed first love, baseball, to pros

-
Image
Patti and Joe Xavier outside a Starbucks in Fowler, Ca. Joe Xavier played six seasons as a pro, making it as high as AAA. (G21D Photo) FOWLER, CA - When Joe Xavier was a boy, he had something other kids didn't: An uncle in the major leagues. For Xavier, it seemed normal. It was also his first introduction into baseball. "To see that right off, you don't know any better, Major League Baseball, was quite something," Xavier recalled to The Greatest 21 Days recently. "So that was my introduction. After that, that was pretty much my first love." Xavier went from there to make his own bid at the majors, to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, Bobby Cox . Xavier, though, would never make the bigs, playing six seasons as a pro, but never making it past AAA. Xavier met up with The Greatest 21 Days in late July with his wife Patti at a Starbucks in Fowler, Ca., near his hometown of Selma. Xavier covered his origins in the game, his route through Cal...
Read more

A to Z: 1990 Minor League Players, Baseball Profiles

-
Image
What happened to your favorite minor league team in 1990? Find out here. Since late 2009, the players of 1990 have been featured at Greatest21Days.com, one at a time. Here, they've been ordered here alphabetically.  Every player has a story. With the help of contemporaneous newspaper articles, find that story here. Most recent players added Aug. 16, 2025 List of 1990 minor league players featured, in alphabetical order: Total: 4,457 A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z A  -  Bill Abare  got big hit at Dunedin, saw three pro seasons, 10/31/13  -  Glenn Abbott  saw bigs over decade, later turned coach, 7/27/14  -  Kurt Abbott 's first ML hit went for homer, saw 9 seasons, 3/22/15  -  Kyle Abbott  saw time in four major league seasons, Japan, 10/4/17  -  Paul Abbott  returned from injuries, made 11 ML seasons, 5/23/11 ...
Read more

1990 Southern Oregon Athletics player profiles, Oakland

-
Image
Features on each member of the 1990 Southern Oregon Athletics, short-season affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. 1990 Southern Oregon Athletics (33) 1  -  Eric Booker  saw five pro seasons, made AA with Athletics 2  -  Brad Brimhall  played in minors to make majors, made high-A 3  -  Scott Budner  played, then helped others to majors as coach 4  -  Jeff Clifford  played single season, in Athletics system 5  -  Craig Connolly  used good pitches to make 4 pro seasons 6  -  Mark Craft  played two sports at VMI, baseball as pro 7  -  Kevin Dattola  played over 13 seasons, made AAA, Korea 8 - Jim Dillon, That Opportunity Jim Dillon stayed in college and improved his draft spot. He played three pro seasons. 9 - Kirk Dressendorfer, Different Life Kirk Dressendorfer made the majors quickly, then injuries came. Never made it back. 10 - Grady Fuson, Hung In Grady Fuson hung in ...
Read more

Jody Treadwell concentrated, saw 11 seasons, AAA, Taiwan

-
Image
New Vero Beach Dodger Jody Treadwell admitted to The Indian River Press Journal to being a little jittery. This game in late June 1990 was his first pro start , after all. "I just concentrated on getting ahead of the hitters," Treadwell told The Press Journal afterward. "I knew as long as I did that, I'd be OK." Treadwell eventually was OK enough to see the pros over 11 seasons . He spent six of those at AAA and one in Taiwan, but missed the majors. Treadwell's career began that year in 1990, taken by the Dodgers in the 27th round of the draft out of Jacksonville University in Florida. Treadwell started at high-A Vero Beach . He went 9-1 over 16 outings, eight starts. He ended with a 1.79 ERA. He played 1991 between high-A Bakersfield and AA San Antonio. He went 8-7 between them, with a 4.14 ERA. Treadwell returned to San Antonio for all of 1992, then hit AAA Albuquerque for 1993. He then stayed with Albuquerque through 1997 - five total seasons. In 199...
Read more

1990 Niagara Falls Rapids player profiles, Detroit Tigers

-
Image
Features on each member of the 1990 Niagara Falls Rapids, as included in the 1990 team set of the short-season NY-Penn League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. Niagara Falls Rapids (34) Francisco Alcantara  proved workhorse over two pro seasons Greg Coppeta  made college Hall of Fame, 4 pro seasons AA Genaro DeBrand  saw one minor league season with Tigers Joe Decker  pitched one way over 9 bigs seasons, coached Joe DeDario  performed for Niagara Falls Rapids, loved it Dinger the Duck  had some competition in Niagara Falls as mascot; He and team stayed five seasons , 4/22/20 Tom Drell  got off to a good start at high-A, then he walked away; He no longer found joy playing , 5/10/20 Rob Fazekas  pitched better than his record in college; Played two seasons as a pro , 4/20/20 Fielder's Choice Baseball Cards  sponsored the 1990 Niagara Falls Rapids card set; Neither remains in Niagara Falls , 4/13/20 Kevin Keon  helped his colle...
Read more

1990 Syracuse Chiefs player profiles, AAA Blue Jays

-
Image
Features on each member of the 1990 Syracuse Chiefs, AAA affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Interviews (2) 1 - Webster Garrison, Every Day Webster Garrison sometimes decided he was tired of baseball. He kept playing. And he made the majors. 2 - Tom Gilles, Seventh Tryout Tom Gilles' major league career was short, just two games, but he got there by being convinced he should be. 1990 Syracuse Chiefs (31) 1  -  Bob Bailor  played long time, returned to majors as coach 2  -  Derek Bell  saw 11 ML seasons, then ended with 'shutdown' 3  -  Steve Cummings  made majors with Blue Jays for 11 games 4  -  Hector De La Cruz  played in minors, Taiwan, then managed 5 - Carlos Diaz, Grief Stay Carlos Diaz was itching to start after college. He made the majors for nine games. 6 - Rob Ducey, Big Responsibility Rob Ducey put pressure on himself in 1997. He only was filling in for Ken Griffey Jr. 7 - Andy Dziadkowiec, Thir...
Read more