Patrick Joseph Mullin (November 1, 1917 – August 14, 1999) was a Major League Baseball

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

for the Detroit Tigers from 1940 to 1941 and 1946 to 1953. Born in Trotter, near Connellsville in

Fayette County, Pennsylvania Fayette County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in southwestern Pennsylvania, adjacent to Maryland and West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 128,804. Its county seat is Uniontown. The county wa ...

, Mullin was signed by the Tigers before the 1937 season as a 19-year-old amateur free agent. A

left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subject ...

hitter who threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, Mullin was listed at and . Mullin reached the major leagues at age 22 in the final week of the 1940 season, going hitless in four at bats. The Tigers won the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

pennant in 1940, however Mullin did not play in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. He started the 1941 season in the minor leagues with the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

, then was brought up midseason, making a big impression, batting .345 with a .400 on-base percentage and a .509 slugging percentage. In just 54 games, Mullin had 76 hits, scored 42 runs, with 21 extra base hits. Based on his performance in 1941, Mullin appeared to be a rising star. However,

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

intervened and Mullin joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, missing four full seasons during the prime of his athletic life from ages 25–28. Mullin returned to the Tigers after the war in 1946 and became a solid performer. His best seasons were 1947 and 1948, the only seasons he played in more than 110 games. In 1947, Mullin was among the American League leaders with 28 doubles and 49 extra base hits. He was elected to the American League All Star Team and finished the 1947 season with a .459 on-base percentage, a .470 slugging percentage and an OPS (on-base plus slugging) rating of .829. In 1948, Mullin was again chosen for the All Star Team. He finished the 1948 campaign with a .385 on-base percentage (driven by 143 hits and 77 bases on balls) and a .504 slugging percentage—8th best in the AL. His OPS rating in 1948 was .889 OPS—7th best in the AL behind the likes of Hall of Famers

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1 ...

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

, and Lou Boudreau. Mullin was also among the 1948 league leaders in triples (22), home runs (23), and at bats per home run (21.6). After the 1948 season, Mullin played largely as a reserve outfielder and left-handed hitting pinch hitter. On June 26, 1949, Mullin hit three home runs in a single game. Mullin had 57 pinch hitting appearances in 1953, retiring at the end of the season, a month shy of his 36th birthday. In ten major league seasons, Mullin played in 834 games for the Tigers, 637 as an outfielder and the rest as a pinch hitter. He finished with a career .271 batting average, 676 hits, 87 home runs and 385 RBIs, a .358 on-base percentage, .453 slugging percentage, and .811 OPS rating. He finished his career with a .970 fielding percentage playing at all three outfield positions. Mullin remained in baseball after his playing days ended as a scout, minor league

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and (from mid-1963 through 1966) first-base coach for the Tigers, and a coach for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

(1967) and

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

(1979–81). He died at age 81 in

Brownsville, Pennsylvania Brownsville is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, first settled in 1785 as the site of a trading post a few years after the defeat of the Iroquois enabled a post-Revolutionary war resumption of westward migration. The Tradin ...

, and is buried at Lafayette Memorial Park, in Brownsville, Pennsylvania.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullin, Pat 1917 births 1999 deaths Baseball players from Pennsylvania Beaumont Exporters players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Cleveland Indians coaches Cleveland Indians scouts Detroit Tigers players Detroit Tigers coaches Detroit Tigers scouts Idaho Falls Russets players Jamestown Falcons players Lake Charles Skippers players Little Rock Travelers players Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball hitting coaches Major League Baseball outfielders Montreal Expos coaches Montreal Expos scouts Sportspeople from Fayette County, Pennsylvania United States Army personnel of World War II

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