Late Bloomers: Stu Miller
We’re going to have a bit of a combo platter in today’s edition, because I want to do two things.
First, I want to talk about Stu Miller, because he had an interesting career and played what I believe to be an important role in baseball history. Second, I want to talk about the evolution of roles in baseball, and I’m going to use Miller’s best role, relief specialist, as the illustration.
Let’s talk about Miller first. He got to the big leagues when he was only 24 years old and had a very good debut, going 6-3 with a 2.05 ERA in 12 appearances for the Cardinals. It was a solid performance, and knowing about it might make you wonder why he’s the subject of a Late Bloomers edition, because 24 isn’t very old at all to be making an impressive major league debut.
The reason he qualifies is because that debut was as a starting pitcher, and it’s a role that never came easily to him again. Miller went 9-11 with a 5.61 ERA over the next two years, then spent all of the 1955 season at Triple-A Omaha trying to figure things out. He was back with the Cardinals in 1956, but not for long. After three appearances in relief he was traded to the Phillies, and struggled there, too. A 5-8 record and 4.47 ERA in 24 games split between the rotation and the bullpen got him traded again after the season, this time to the Giants.
