Robert Gerald Miller (July 15, 1935 – May 24, 2022) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

who played for three different teams during his

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) career. During the 1953 season, he was the youngest player in the major leagues, one of only three players who were 17 years old. Born in

Berwyn, Illinois Berwyn () is a suburban city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, Coterminous municipality, coterminous with Berwyn Township, Illinois, Berwyn Township, which was formed in 1908 after breaking off from Cicero Township, Cook County, Illinois, ...

, Miller was a left-hander who batted right-handed. He was listed as tall and weighed . Miller had a 33–6 won–lost record in three seasons at Morton East High School, including three

no-hitters In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

. In his final season in high school, Miller pitched two no-hitters and had 106 strikeouts in the nine games he pitched.

Professional career

Detroit Tigers (1953–56)

Miller was signed as a "

bonus baby The bonus rule was a contractual rule affecting major league baseball intermittently between 1947 and 1964, meant to prevent teams from assigning certain players to farm teams. The rule stipulated that when a major-league team signed a player to ...

" amateur free agent by the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

on June 20, 1953, receiving a $60,000 signing bonus from the team, who outbid the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

and

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) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

for his services. The other Tigers' bonus baby signed that day was future-

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Al Kaline Albert William Kaline ( ; December 19, 1934 – April 6, 2020), nicknamed "Mr. Tiger", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers. For most of his career, Kali ...

, who received a bonus of $35,000 and had been pursued by every major league team other than the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

. As required by the Bonus Rule as it existed when he was signed, the Tigers had to immediately place Miller on their 40-man roster and keep him there for two years. Miller made his major league debut on June 25, less than a week after being signed to the team. Taking the mound at age 17, he was the youngest Tiger hurler to start a game. Miller finished the 1953 season with a 1–2 record in 13 appearances (all but one in relief), and an

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

of 5.94 in 36 innings of work. In the 1954 season he had a 1–1 record and the only save of his career, appearing in 22 games (all but one in relief) and ending with a 2.45 ERA in 69 innings. In the 1955 season he pitched to a 2–1 record in seven appearances (three of them starts, including his only

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

) and ending with an ERA of 2.49 in 25 innings. Miller finished with an 0–2 record in the 1956 season in 11 appearances (all but three in relief), and his ERA ballooned to 5.68 in 35 innings of work. Miller spent the entire 1957 season performing military service, then played exclusively at the

minor-league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

from 1958 through 1961.

Cincinnati Reds (1962)

Miller was drafted by the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

from the Tigers on November 30, 1959, in the 1959 minor league draft. The Reds brought him up for the season, and he appeared in six games, all in relief, between April 9 and 29. He was treated roughly, permitting 14

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

and 13

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

s for an ERA of 21.94 in 5 innings of work for Cincinnati.

New York Mets (1962)

The Reds traded Miller along with

Cliff Cook Raymond Clifford Cook (born August 20, 1936) is an American former professional baseball player who appeared in 163 games played over parts of five Major League Baseball seasons. Primarily a third baseman, though he played some games as an outfi ...

to the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

on May 7, 1962, in exchange for

Don Zimmer Donald William Zimmer (January 17, 1931 – June 4, 2014) was an American infielder, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). Zimmer was involved in professional baseball from 1949 until his death, a span of 65 years, across 8 d ...

. One of two pitchers on the Mets inaugural squad sharing the name Bob Miller, Mets manager

Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and Manager (baseball), manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, t ...

would call right-hander Bob L. Miller by the name "Nelson", perhaps to distinguish him from this Bob Miller, or just general confusion on Stengel's part. With the Mets, Miller finished the season with a 2–2 record in 17 appearances, all in relief, and had an ERA of 7.08 in 20 innings. Miller's final major league appearance was on September 18, 1962, in the second game of a doubleheader against the

Houston Colt .45s The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. They are one of two major league clubs based in Tex ...

, with Miller retiring the last three batters in the ninth inning of a game the Mets lost 8–6 at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 to 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built for the ...

. The '62 Mets ended up with a record of 40–120, most losses of any team in Major League Baseball's modern history.

Career statistics

References

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Bob 1935 births 2022 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Cuba American military personnel of the Korean War Augusta Tigers players 20th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from Cook County, Illinois Birmingham Barons players Charleston Senators players Cincinnati Reds players Detroit Tigers players Havana Sugar Kings players Jersey City Jerseys players Indianapolis Indians players Industriales de Valencia players Major League Baseball pitchers New York Mets players Sportspeople from Berwyn, Illinois Syracuse Chiefs players