Jon Mueller (baseball)

Jon Mueller
Mueller with Albany in 2010
Current position
TitleHead coach
TeamAlbany
ConferenceAmerica East
Record500–699–5 (.417)
Biographical details
Born (1970-01-26) January 26, 1970 (age 54)
Stillwater, New York, U.S.
Alma materEckerd '92 (B.A.)
Saint Rose (M.A.)
Playing career
Basketball
1989–1991Eckerd
Baseball
1989–1992Eckerd
1994Marshall Mallards
1995Will County Claws
1995–1996Adirondack Lumberjacks
1997–2000Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1993–1994Saint Rose (asst.)
1999Albany (asst.)
2000–presentAlbany
Head coaching record
Overall500–699–5 (.417)
TournamentsNCAA: 0–2
America East: 16–26
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
America East tournament: 2007
Awards
America East Coach of the Year: 2004, 2019, 2021

Jon Paul Mueller (born January 26, 1970) is an American college baseball coach who has been the head coach of Albany since the start of the 2000 season. Mueller, who was named the 2004 America East Coach of the Year, led the Great Danes to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 2007.[1]

Playing career

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Mueller attended Stillwater High School in upstate New York, where he played baseball and basketball. Mueller won a state basketball championship in his senior season, 1988. He was offered a basketball scholarship at Siena, but chose instead to attend Eckerd. He played both basketball and baseball at the Florida college as a freshman and sophomore but focused exclusively on baseball as a junior and senior. He graduated in 1992.[1][2]

After getting his master's degree from Saint Rose in 1994, Mueller began a seven-year professional baseball career spent entirely in independent leagues. From 1994 to 1995, he played for the Marshall Mallards and Will County Claws in the short-lived North Central League. Partway through the 1995 season, he returned to upstate New York, where he played for the Adirondack Lumberjacks from 1995 to 1996 and the Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs from 1997 to 2000. Primarily a first baseman and an outfielder, Mueller had a career .286 batting average and hit 76 home runs.[1][2][3]

Coaching career

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Saint Rose

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Mueller's first coaching job came with Saint Rose from 1993 to 1994, where he worked as an assistant while getting his master's degree.[1]

Albany

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In 1999, Mueller worked as a volunteer assistant at Albany under head coach Doug O'Brey. In the program's last season in Division II, the Great Danes went 21–21 and reached the ECAC Tournament final.[4][5]

Mueller was hired as Albany's head coach the following season, the Great Danes' first in Division I. Playing as an independent, they went 19–24. After the season, he played his last season of professional baseball. Albany joined the America East Conference for the 2002 season. In 2004, the team went 37–14 and tied for second in conference. It appeared in its first America East tournament and Mueller was named the conference's Coach of the Year.

Mueller led the program to its first NCAA tournament in 2007. After a 26–27 (13–11 America East) regular season, the Great Danes received the third seed in the 2007 America East tournament. There, they defeated Stony Brook in the opener and Binghamton twice to win the championship and the conference's automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA tournament. At the Fayetteville Regional, the team went 0–2, losing 9–0 to host Arkansas and 21–11 to second-seeded Creighton.[6][7][8][9]

From 2000 to 2019, eight of Mueller's players have been selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. The highest selection was Stephen Woods in 2016, an 8th-round selection of the San Francisco Giants.[10][11]

Head coaching record

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Below is a table of Mueller's yearly records as a collegiate head baseball coach.[4][5][6][12]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
IndependentDI (2000)
2000 Albany 19–24
New York State Baseball Conference (2001)
2001 Albany 15–32 3–7 T–5th
Albany: 15–32 3–7
America East Conference (2002–present)
2002 Albany 20–30 8–14 T–6th
2003 Albany 20–32 10–14 5th
2004 Albany 37–14 14–7 T–2nd America East tournament
2005 Albany 20–19 10–11 T–5th
2006 Albany 20–32 12–10 4th America East tournament
2007 Albany 29–29 13–11 3rd NCAA Regional
2008 Albany 17–37–1 10–14 6th
2009 Albany 26–31–1 15–9 2nd America East tournament
2010 Albany 13–40 10–14 4th America East tournament
2011 Albany 21–31 11–11 4th America East tournament
2012 Albany 22–32–1 16–8 2nd America East tournament
2013 Albany 23–25 16–14 3rd America East tournament
2014 Albany 12–33 7–17 T–6th
2015 Albany 14–28 7–13 6th
2016 Albany 23–30 9–15 5th America East tournament
2017 Albany 26–26 10–13 4th America East tournament
2018 Albany 20–28 9–14 6th America East tournament
2019 Albany 28–23 14–9 2nd America East tournament
2020 Albany 7–5 0–0 Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021 Albany 22–25 20–18 1st (Division A) America East tournament
2022 Albany 22–25 11–19 T–3rd (Division A) America East tournament
2023 Albany 9–34–1 3–21 7th
2024 Albany 15–34–1 10-13 5th America East tournament
Albany: 500–699–5 (.417) 248–286 (.464)
Total: 500–699–5 (.417)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Jon Mueller". UAlbanySports.com. Albany Athletics Communications. Archived from the original on May 1, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Singelais, Mark (June 30, 2009). "UAlbany's Mueller Makes Hall of Fame ... In Hoops". TimesUnion.com. Albany Times-Union. Archived from the original on July 26, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  3. ^ Stashenko, Joel (October 17, 2005). "Going, Going, Gone: Nursing Home Approved for Heritage Park Site". BizJournals.com. Archived from the original on August 11, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  4. ^ a b DePasquale, Brian. "Mueller Named Baseball Coach". Albany.edu. Archived from the original on May 10, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "2014 Albany Baseball Media Guide". Albany Sports Information. Archived from the original on July 29, 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
  6. ^ a b "2013 America East Conference Baseball Record Book" (PDF). AmericaEast.com. America East Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 24, 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  7. ^ "Creighton Hammers Albany". Lincoln Journal Star. Associated Press. June 1, 2007. Archived from the original on May 23, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  8. ^ Post, Paul (February 26, 2012). "Men's Baseball: UAlbany Coach Jon Mueller Has the Team Set for New Season". Saratogian.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  9. ^ Santillo, Andrew (May 20, 2013). "Home-Grown Talent Leads UAlbany Baseball in Postseason". TroyRecord.com. Archived from the original on August 12, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  10. ^ "MLB Amateur Draft Picks Who Came from "Albany"". Baseball-Reference.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  11. ^ Leipa, Bob (June 9, 2011). "Baseball: Jamesport's Kubiak, Ex-Tomcat Tropeano Drafted by MLB Clubs". RiverheadNewsReview.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2014. Retrieved July 23, 2014.
  12. ^ "Annual Conference Standings". BoydsWorld.com. Boyd Nation. Archived from the original on May 30, 2013. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
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