1927
Born December 26, 1927
Northampton, MA, USA
Stu Miller Marquee
b. December 26, 1927 · St. Louis Cardinals 1952–1954, 1956, Philadelphia Phillies 1956, New York Giants 1957, San Francisco Giants 1958–1962, Baltimore Orioles 1963–1967, Atlanta Braves 1968
Stu Miller's most famous moment lasted a second. Pitching in the 1961 All-Star Game at Candlestick Park, he was moved by a gust of wind while set on the mound and charged with a balk, and the story followed him for the rest of his life in steadily more dramatic versions.
What he actually did well was change speeds. He threw a slow curve and a slower changeup and led the National League in earned run average in 1958 and in saves in 1961, then moved to Baltimore and saved 27 games in 1963. He worked 704 games, only 93 of them starts.
Born in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1927, Miller finished 105-103 with 154 saves and a 3.24 earned run average. He was eighty-seven when he died, on January 4, 2015.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 1 | 1961 |
| The Sporting News Fireman of the Year | 2 | 1961, 1963 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | STL | 12 | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .120 |
| 1953 | STL | 42 | 43 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | .186 |
| 1954 | STL | 20 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .308 |
| 1956 | PHI/STL | 33 | 26 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 0 | .154 |
| 1957 | NYG | 38 | 35 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | .057 |
| 1958 | SFG | 42 | 50 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 0 | .120 |
| 1959 | SFG | 59 | 45 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | .044 |
| 1960 | SFG | 47 | 25 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | .200 |
| 1961 | SFG | 64 | 20 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | .200 |
| 1962 | SFG | 60 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .125 |
| 1963 | BAL | 71 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .313 |
| 1964 | BAL | 66 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .111 |
| 1965 | BAL | 67 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .063 |
| 1966 | BAL | 51 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .105 |
| 1967 | BAL | 42 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .000 |
| 1968 | ATL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 716 | 369 | 28 | 49 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 30 | 89 | 1 | .133 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952 | STL | 6 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 0 | 88.0 | 63 | 20 | 26 | 64 | 2.05 |
| 1953 | STL | 7 | 8 | 40 | 18 | 4 | 137.2 | 161 | 85 | 47 | 79 | 5.56 |
| 1954 | STL | 2 | 3 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 46.2 | 55 | 30 | 29 | 22 | 5.79 |
| 1956 | PHI/STL | 5 | 9 | 27 | 15 | 1 | 114.0 | 121 | 57 | 56 | 60 | 4.50 |
| 1957 | NYG | 7 | 9 | 38 | 13 | 1 | 124.0 | 110 | 50 | 45 | 60 | 3.63 |
| 1958 | SFG | 6 | 9 | 41 | 20 | 0 | 182.0 | 160 | 50 | 49 | 119 | 2.47 |
| 1959 | SFG | 8 | 7 | 59 | 9 | 8 | 167.2 | 164 | 53 | 57 | 95 | 2.84 |
| 1960 | SFG | 7 | 6 | 47 | 3 | 2 | 101.2 | 100 | 44 | 31 | 65 | 3.90 |
| 1961 | SFG | 14 | 5 | 63 | 0 | 17 | 122.0 | 95 | 36 | 37 | 89 | 2.66 |
| 1962 | SFG | 5 | 8 | 59 | 0 | 19 | 107.0 | 107 | 49 | 42 | 78 | 4.12 |
| 1963 | BAL | 5 | 8 | 71 | 0 | 27 | 112.1 | 93 | 28 | 53 | 114 | 2.24 |
| 1964 | BAL | 7 | 7 | 66 | 0 | 23 | 97.0 | 77 | 33 | 34 | 87 | 3.06 |
| 1965 | BAL | 14 | 7 | 67 | 0 | 24 | 119.1 | 87 | 25 | 32 | 104 | 1.89 |
| 1966 | BAL | 9 | 4 | 51 | 0 | 18 | 92.0 | 65 | 23 | 22 | 67 | 2.25 |
| 1967 | BAL | 3 | 10 | 42 | 0 | 8 | 81.1 | 63 | 23 | 36 | 60 | 2.55 |
| 1968 | ATL | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 27.00 |
| Career | — | 105 | 103 | 704 | 93 | 154 | 1694.0 | 1522 | 610 | 600 | 1164 | 3.24 |
On this day & linked events
2015
Died January 4, 2015
1952
Major-league debut: Stu Miller
Stu Miller made a major-league debut on August 12, 1952.
1967
Baltimore Orioles Combined No-Hitter, 1967
Steve Barber and Stu Miller threw a combined no-hitter for the Baltimore Orioles against the Detroit Tigers on April 30, 1967.
1968
Final major-league game: Stu Miller
Stu Miller played a final major-league game on April 23, 1968.
Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain