Highlighted Year: Stu Miller, 1958

Pitcher, San Francisco Giants

Age:  30

2^nd season with Giants

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 5’11” Weight: 165 

Prior to 1958:

A native of Northampton, Massachusetts, Miller played sandlot baseball until joining the Navy in 1945, where he played service ball. In 1949 he attended a St. Louis Cardinals tryout camp, and despite his lack of a good fastball, Miller was signed for $150 per month with a $100 bonus. Initially assigned to Salisbury of the Class D Eastern Shore League, the 21-year-old produced an 8-13 record and 4.29 ERA. Back at Class D in 1950 with Hamilton of the Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York (or Pony League) he learned to throw a changeup which allowed him to improve to 16-13 with a 3.21 ERA. Improvement continued with two teams at the Class B and A levels in 1951. Pitching well for the Columbus Red Birds of the Class AAA American Association in 1952, he compiled a 11-5 tally and 2.34 ERA before being called up to the pitching-strapped Cardinals in August. Allowing only one earned run while going the distance in his first three starts, Miller went 6-3 for the Cardinals with a 2.05 ERA and 64 strikeouts over 88 innings pitched. Unimpressive-looking with his slight build and slow pitches, he got by with good control and an assortment of off-speed pitches that kept batters guessing. In 1953 opposing batters began to adjust and, when his pitches rode too high, he gave up home runs, 19 in all over 137.2 innings as his record dropped to 7-8 and his ERA rose to 5.56. Continuing to struggle in 1954, he appeared mostly in relief for the Cardinals prior to being sent down to Columbus during the second half of the season where he started most of the time and went 7-8 with a 3.05 ERA. Miller spent all of 1955 with Omaha of the American Association and produced a 17-14 tally and 3.02 ERA with 161 strikeouts over 244 innings. Miller started 1956 with the Cardinals until traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in May. He went on to post a combined tally of 5-9 as a starter-reliever with a mediocre 4.50 ERA and 60 strikeouts and 56 walks over 114 innings. He also gave up 19 home runs. Traded again in the offseason to the Giants, he started off in Minneapolis of the American Association until he was called up to the Giants in May. Utilized primarily out of the bullpen (13 starts in 38 apperances) he showed improvement in going 7-9 with a 3.63 ERA. With the move of the franchise to San Francisco, Miller started the 1958 season as a reliever before moving into the starting rotation.

1958 Season Summary

Appeared in 42 games

P – 41, PR – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 41 [18, tied with Johnny Antonelli, Jim Brosnan & Willard Schmidt]

Games Started – 20

Games Finished – 7

Complete Games – 4

Wins – 6

Losses – 9

PCT - .400

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 1 [17, tied with eighteen others]

Innings Pitched – 182 [18]

Hits – 160

Runs – 60

Earned Runs – 50

Home Runs – 16

Bases on Balls – 49

Strikeouts – 119 [11]

ERA – 2.47 [1]

Hit Batters – 2

Balks – 1 [7, tied with twenty-three others]

Wild Pitches – 2

League-leading ERA was -0.41 lower than runner-up Sam Jones

Midseason Snapshot: 2-4, ERA - 1.87, SO – 44 in 62.2 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 7 (in 5 IP) at Pittsburgh 7/25, (in 8 IP) at Pittsburgh 9/9, (in 8.2 IP) at Chi. Cubs 7/2, (in 9 IP) at St. Louis 9/19

10+ strikeout games – 0

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 3 (in 9 IP) at Chi. Cubs 5/18

Batting

PA – 62, AB – 50, R – 4, H – 6, 2B – 1, 3B – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 5, BB – 7, SO – 17, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .120, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 5, SF – 0

Fielding

Chances – 44

Put Outs – 9

Assists – 34

Errors – 1

DP – 4

Pct. - .977

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The Giants went 80-74 in their first San Francisco season to finish third in the NL, 12 games behind the pennant-winning Milwaukee Braves. The Giants got off to a strong start and were in first place for all but two days from May 18 to June 10. They remained close to the top and were in first for the last time on July 29. They dropped into third place to stay during a 14-17 August and drew a total of 1,272,625 fans to their temporary home at Seals Stadium, nearly doubling the attendance from their last year at New York’s Polo Grounds.

Aftermath of 1958:

Used out of the bullpen in 1959 (9 starts in 59 appearances), a role in which he was most effective, Miller compiled an 8-7 record and 2.84 ERA with 8 saves and 95 strikeouts over 167.2 innings while surrendering only 13 home runs. With his calm temperament and array of slow pitches, he proved to be a good fit in tense late-innings situations for the contending Giants. Miller started poorly in 1960 but turned his season around to post a 7-6 tally and 3.90 ERA in 47 appearances with 65 strikeouts over 101.2 innings. “Little Stu” had an outstanding season in 1961, tying for the league lead in saves with 17 to go along with a 14-5 record, 2.66 ERA, and 89 strikeouts over 122 innings. He placed twelfth in league MVP voting and was an All-Star, which led to his becoming involved in an incident that became part of baseball lore. Entering the first of the two All-Star Games, which was played at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, on an exceptionally hot day in which the wind picked up in the late innings. Coming on in the ninth, a gust of wind caused him to stumble, resulting in his being called for a balk. The NL went on to win the game and Miller was the winning pitcher. But for long afterward it was said that he had been blown off the mound by a gust of wind, which was not accurate (it was more like the wind disrupted his delivery). The Giants won the NL pennant in 1962, catching up to the Dodgers at the end and winning a best-of-three playoff. Miller recorded 19 saves along with a 5-8 record and 4.12 ERA with 78 strikeouts over 107 innings. He had a poor outing in the second game of the season-extending playoff against the Dodgers and was used only for mop-up duty in the World Series against the Yankees. In the offseason he was part of a six-player trade with the Baltimore Orioles. The move to the American League paid off in 1963 as Miller’s array of slow junk pitches proved effective and he appeared in a then-league record 71 games and posted a league-leading 27 saves to go with a 5-8 tally and 2.24 ERA with 114 strikeouts over 112.1 innings. For the contending Orioles in 1964 he appeared in 66 games and recorded 22 saves, a 7-7 record, a 3.06 ERA, and 87 strikeouts over 97 innings. Miller followed up with a better season in 1965 which included a 31-inning scoreless streak over 17 appearances. His final totals were 24 saves and a 14-7 tally with a 1.89 ERA, and 104 strikeouts over 119.1 innings covering 67 appearances. The Orioles won the pennant in 1966 and “Little Stu” contributed 51 appearances and a 9-4 record along with 18 saves, a 2.25 ERA, and 67 strikeouts over 92 innings. Combining with veteran right-handed reliever Eddie Fisher in the closer role (a designation not yet in use) the two saved a total of 32 games (including Fisher’s 14) and were keys to Baltimore having the AL’s best bullpen. Only one reliever was used in the four-game World Series sweep of the Dodgers, and so Miller’s services weren’t needed. In 1967 at age 39, Miller began to show his age as his appearances were limited to 42 and his save total dipped to 8 along with a 3-10 tally. His ERA was a healthy 2.55 and he struck out 60 batters over 81.1 innings. Miller was also involved in an exceptionally odd combination no-hitter. In a late-April game against Detroit, starting LHP Steve Barber threw 8.2 hitless innings but along the way he issued 10 walks, hit two batters, unleashed a wild pitch, and committed a fielding error. Nursing a 1-0 lead in the ninth, Barber walked the first two batters who were moved along by a sacrifice bunt. The next batter for the Tigers fouled out but Barber’s wild pitch allowed the tying run to score. He gave up another walk after which he was relieved by Miller. A ground ball to short resulted in an infield error and a run for the Tigers was followed by Miller getting the third out to end the inning and preserve the no-hitter. The Orioles were unable to score in the bottom of the ninth and lost 2-1. It marked the first time that a nine-inning combination no-hitter resulted in a loss. Prior to the 1968 season, Miller was sold to the Atlanta Braves who released him after two appearances, effectively ending his career, although he had a brief but disappointing stint with Tulsa of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League before calling it quits and becoming a minor league pitching coach for the Giants for the remainder of the season. For his major league career, Miller appeared in 704 games, 93 of them starts, and produced a 105-103 record and 3.24 ERA with 153 saves, 24 complete games, 5 shutouts, and 1164 strikeouts over 1693.1 innings. With the Giants he made 307 appearances for a 47-44 record with a 3.16 ERA, 8 complete games, one shutout, 47 saves, and 506 strikeouts over 804.1 innings. Appearing in two World Series games Miller had no decisions. A two-time All-Star, he proved that a pitcher could be successful while lacking a good fastball, although the journey to major league success was a long and difficult one for him. He operated an insurance business in the San Francisco area and died in 2015 at age 87.

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Highlighted Years feature players who led a major league in one of the following categories: batting average, home runs (with a minimum of 10), runs batted in, or stolen bases (with a minimum of 20); or pitchers who led a major league in wins, strikeouts, earned run average, or saves (with a minimum of 10). Also included are participants in annual All-Star Games between the National and American Leagues since 1933. This category also includes Misc. players who received award votes, were contributors to teams that reached the postseason, or had notable seasons in non-award years.