Walter Miller (February 28, 1898 – August 20, 1975), known as Jake Miller or J. Walter Miller, was a
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Mod ...
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...
who played in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) during 1924–1933. He played mainly 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 F ...
, and one season for the
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...
. Listed at and , he threw and batted left-handed.
Baseball career
Miller played five seasons in minor league baseball; 1922–1924 and 1931–1932. He compiled a 39–25
win–loss record
In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...
in 94 minor league appearances.
Miller's major league career spanned 1924 to 1933, with the exception of 1932 when he did not play in the major leagues. He made his debut with 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 F ...
late in the 1924 season, and went on to appear in 174 games (125 starts) with the team through the 1931 season. He recorded a career-high 14 wins during the 1929 season. During his eight seasons with Cleveland, he compiled a 55–52 record with 3.92
ERA
An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth.
Compa ...
while registering 275
strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...
s in 964
innings pitched
In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...
.
In July 1932, Miller and outfielder
Joel Hunt
Oliver Joel "Lil' Joel" Hunt (October 11, 1905 – July 24, 1978) was American football and baseball player and coach of football. He played college football at Texas A&M University from 1925 to 1927 and served as the head football coach at the ...
were traded to the
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...
in exchange for outfielder
Hal Anderson
Hal Anderson is a Canadian radio personality. He is best known for his time hosting morning shows on CJOB and CJOB's FM sister station, Power 97.
Radio career
While still studying Communication Arts at Lethbridge Community College, Anderson wo ...
. Miller appeared in 11 games for the
Columbus Red Birds
The Columbus Red Birds were a top-level minor league baseball team that played in Columbus, Ohio, in the American Association from 1931 through 1954. The Columbus club, a member of the Association continuously since 1902, was previously known as ...
, a Cardinals
farm team
In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...
, but did not pitch in the major leagues for St. Louis.
Miller's final major league season was as a member of the 1933 Chicago White Sox. In 26 games (14 starts) he had a 5.62 ERA with 30 strikeouts in innings pitched, and a 5–6 record. Overall, in nine major league seasons, Miller had a 60–58 record with 4.09 ERA and recorded 305 strikeouts in innings pitched.
Personal life
Miller was born in 1898 in
Wagram, Ohio
Wagram is an unincorporated community in Licking County, in the U.S. state of Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly ...
. At age 20, he was living in
Pataskala, Ohio
Pataskala ( ) is a city in Licking County, Ohio, United States, approximately east of Columbus. The population was 14,962 at the 2010 census. Pataskala was a small community until 1996, when what was then the village of Pataskala merged with Lim ...
, and attending
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
. He briefly served in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
(October to December 1918) during World War I. Miller's entry in the Ohio State
yearbook
A yearbook, also known as an annual, is a type of a book published annually. One use is to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school. The term also refers to a book of statistics or facts published annually. A yearbook often ...
for his senior class noted his major as
chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...
, that he had played two seasons on the varsity baseball team, and that he was a member of
Delta Tau Delta
Delta Tau Delta () is a United States-based international Greek letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1858. The fraternity currently has around 130 collegiate chapters ...
fraternity. In February 1942, he was living in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, and working for the Universal Concrete Pipe Company there. He died in
Venice, Florida
Venice is a city in Sarasota County, Florida, United States. The city includes what locals call "Venice Island", a portion of the mainland that is accessed via bridges over the artificially created Intracoastal Waterway. The city is located in Sou ...
, in 1975 at age 77. A younger brother was fellow major league pitcher
Russ Miller
Russ Miller is an American session drummer.Flans, Robyn (May 2007)Russ Miller-Doing It All: Studio Vet, Touring Pro, Master Clinician, And Product Inventor ''Modern Drummer'', Retrieved December 8, 2010 Miller grew up in Ohio. On his World War II draft registration card, his name was listed and signed as "J. Walter Miller", which is how his name appeared in the college yearbook at Ohio State for his senior class, and how contemporary newspaper reports commonly referred to him. Research by members of the
Society for American Baseball Research
The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...
(SABR) indicates that his full name was Jacob Walter Miller.