Anthony Joseph Muser (; born August 1, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player who currently serves as a roving instructor in the San Diego Padres organization. He played professionally in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine seasons. From 1997 to 2002, Muser served as the manager of the Kansas City Royals. After being replaced by John Mizerock, Muser spent four seasons as the bench coach for the Padres under Bruce Bochy.
Playing career
Signed as an amateur free agent by the Boston Red Sox in 1967, Muser spent parts of nine seasons in the majors between 1969 and 1978. After debuting with the Red Sox, he also played for the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Milwaukee Brewers. In , he was the White Sox starting first baseman, setting career highs with 4 home runs and 30 runs batted in while batting .285 in 109 games.
After batting .260 during the first months of the campaign, Muser was acquired by the Orioles from the White Sox for
Jesse Jefferson in one of two transactions made by Chicago at the non-waiver trade deadline on June 15, .
[ "A's Obtain Bahnsen on Deadline," The New York Times, Tuesday, June 17, 1975. Retrieved October 26, 2020] Following his major league career, he played in Japan for the
Seibu Lions in 1979.
Muser played mostly first base, but did not hit for much in the way of average or power at a position that is historically more known for offense than defense. He had a lifetime .259 batting average and only seven home runs in his entire career.
Post-playing career
Coach and minor league manager
In , Muser was brought back into the Brewers organization, as he was hired as manager of the
Stockton Ports, one of Milwaukee's A-ball farm clubs. The Ports won the league championship in 1980, and Muser was moved up to the Double-A El Paso Diablos. After two-plus seasons in El Paso, during which Muser's teams went 176–162, Muser was promoted again, this time to the Triple-A Vancouver Canadians, where he replaced
Dick Phillips in midseason. After a season and a half there, Muser was moved up to the Brewers' coaching staff, where he served as third base coach from through spring training in when he was severely injured in a gas explosion in the
Compadre Stadium clubhouse and missed the rest of the 1986 season.
Muser was in line to succeed
George Bamberger as manager but because of his injuries was replaced as third base coach by
Tom Trebelhorn who went on to manage the Brewers for five years.
[ Tough day in Brewers history by Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel ] Muser returned as hitting coach from until .
[ Bio from Padres web site] In and , Muser was back at Triple-A, managing the
Denver Zephyrs, the Brewers' top farm team.
In , Muser moved to the Chicago Cubs, where he served as their hitting coach until , when he was named manager of the Kansas City Royals.
Royals manager
On July 9, 1997, Muser replaced
Bob Boone as manager of the Kansas City Royals. The Royals were 36–46 at the time, but finished the season even worse, going 31–48 under Muser, finishing 4th in the American League Central. Starting in , the Royals would finish 3rd, 4th, 4th, and 5th in the five-team division. After starting the season 8–15, Muser was fired as manager and replaced by
John Mizerock.
Back to coaching
After being let go by the Royals, Muser was named to the San Diego Padres coaching staff for . He served as the Padres' bench coach until , then returned to the minor leagues as a manager. In , Muser was the manager for the
Peoria Padres, the Padres' rookie level team in the
Arizona League. In 2008, he became a roving minor league instructor for the Padres.
Managerial records
External links
