Bad Deals: Phillies Trades throughout History

Phillies fans love to lament the poor trades the Phillies have made over the years. They have a point. The Phillies have a history of trading away Hall of Fame talent for marginal players. It seems the Phillies consistently undervalue their own talent and overvalue the talent of other teams' prospects. And of course, there is the famous 5-for-1 deal involving Von Hayes that veteran rooters are still lamenting. Added to the long history of futility on the field, these trades fuel a fans' frustrations. The truth of these trades is a bit more complicated than it might first appear, however. Some trades are irredeemably bad. Some trades are only bad in retrospect. At least one traditionally condemned trade was not so bad at all. Here's a closer look.

The Really Bad Trades

Dec 1917: Grover Cleveland Alexander and Bill Killefer to the Chicago Cubs for Pickles Dillhoefer, Mike Prendergast, and $55,000

If this trade weren't so sad, it would be laughable. Parsimonious Phillies owner Wiliam F. Baker essentially sold Alexander, the best pitcher in baseball, the man who pitched his 1915 team to the World Series, a pitcher who was just 30 years old, for a few spare parts. Thrown into the deal was the starting catcher for his 1915 National League Champs, Bill Killefer. Alexander won 183 games after the trade. Killefer was a serviceable backstop for a few more seasons with the Cubs. Catcher Dillhoefer played in eight games for the Phillies before ending his career as a backup with the St. Louis Cardinals. Prendergast went 13-14 for the 1918 Phillies and was gone after a few games in 1919. No one knows what Baker did with the 55K.

November 1934: Chuck Klein to the Chicago Cubs for Harvey Hendrick, Ted Kleinhens, and Mark Koenig and $65,000.

When Phillies owner Baker died, he left the team to the care of Gerald Nugent, the husband of his secretary, who Baker had hired as an assistant. Nugent was not like the miserly Baker, and he cared about winning, but he was constantly in debt. This trade of the future Hall of Famer Klein, one of the greatest Phillies ever, was all about money. The three players Nugent received in return were either over the hill or marginal or both. Koenig, the only decent player of the bunch, never played for the Phillies. He was immediately traded to the Cincinnati Reds for two even more marginal players, Otto Bluege and Irv Jeffries. 

Dec. 1958: Jack Sanford to the San Francisco Giants for Ruben Gomez and Valmy Thomas

Jack Sanford was a late bloomer. It took him ten years in the Phillies minor league system to get his hard sinker under control. Once he did, at age 28, he was the Rookie of the Year in 1957, going 19-8 and appearing in the All-Star Game. Sanford had an up and down year for a very bad 1958 Phillies team and somehow the Phillies soured on him. Sanford went on to pitch seven solid years for the Giants, including a 24-7 year in 1962, when he pitched them to the National League Pennant. 

Ruben Gomez was disastrous as both a starter and reliever for the Phillies. In two seasons he compiled a 3-11 record and a 5.63 ERA. The 33-year-old Valmy Thomas hit .200 as a backup catcher and was gone after one year.

Dec. 2006: Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez to the Chicago White Sox for Freddy Garcia

The Phillies and general manager Pat Gillick thought the team needed an ace pitcher. To get one they traded away two former #1 draft picks, Floyd and Gonzalez, for the White Sox' Freddy Garcia. Garcia had a 17-9 record in 2006, despite a high 4.53 ERA. Apparently, someone forgot to check the condition of Garcia's arm. Freddy spent one injury plagued season with the Phillies and recorded exactly one win. Floyd became a serviceable starter for the White Sox. Gonzalez eventually emerged as the ace of the Washington Nationals staff and won 131 major league games.

The Bad in Retrospect Trades

April 1966 Ferguson Jenkins, Adolfo Phillips, and John Hernnstein to the Chicago Cubs for Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl.

Trading away a future Hall of Famer is never a good look. General Manager John Quinn, however, was following a philosophy he learned as a longtime assistant for the Yankees and as a successful GM with the Braves: Build from your farm system and then trade prospects for veterans when you have a chance to win. The Phillies had famously just missed in 1964 and then fallen on their collective faces in 1965. With the core of the team still in place (Dick Allen, Johnny Callison, Jim Bunning, Chris Short), Quinn felt that acquiring some veteran pitching would set him up to make another pennant run. It didn't work out, but the trade was not as bad as many believe.

First of all, Jenkins was not the Hall of Fame Jenkins yet. The Phillies certainly drastically underestimated his potential, but it is telling that Cubs manager Leo Durocher didn't know what to do with Jenkins either. Fergie was languishing in the Cubs bullpen all season, until one Robin Roberts arrived as the Cubs pitching coach and talked Jenkins into using his fastball more and talked Durocher into using Jenkins as a starter. The rest is history, of course. Adolfo Phillips never achieved his considerable potential and as for Herrnstein - by this time in his career, everyone knew he was not a major leaguer.

Contrary to the popular narrative about this trade, the Phillies got one pretty good pitcher out of the deal. In 1966, Larry Jackson won 15 games for the Phillies and posted an excellent 2.99 ERA. From 1966 to 1968, Jackson won 41 games for the Phillies, second on the staff only to Chris Short's 48. Buhl was indeed washed up, and despite adding a spitter to his repertoire (according to catcher Clay Dalrymple), he generally pitched poorly in his one+ year with the team.

January 1982: Larry Bowa and Ryne Sandberg to the Chicago Cubs for Ivan DeJesus

New Cubs general manager Dallas Green, recently the manager of the Phillies, pulled a fast one on the Phillies here, insisting that the young and untested Sandberg be included in the deal. What may be forgotten about this deal is that it only came about because Larry Bowa, at 36 years of age, was insisting on a three-year contract. The Phillies wanted to sign him to a one-year deal. Bowa said that the previous owner, Ruly Carpenter, had promised him a big deal for his final contract. The day after the trade, the Cubs signed Bowa to that three-year deal. Bowa fulfilled that deal, playing a fairly high level of shortstop for his new team. 

But if this deal were just Bowa for DeJesus it would not still be talked about. Bowa for DeJesus was pretty much a wash. Ivan had three years with the Phillies that were comparable to Bowa's three years in Chicago, and DeJesus was a key member of the 1983 pennant winners. What makes this trade a stinker, of course, was the throw in, Ryne Sandberg. The Phillies did not want to let Sandberg go, but they also had determined he could not play shortstop and they already had a pretty good third baseman in Mike Schmidt and a pretty good second baseman in Manny Trillo. They offered Luis Aguayo. Green insisted on Sandberg. His persistence got him a Hall of Famer. 

The Not as Bad as You Think Trades

Dec. 1982 Julio Franco, Manny Trillo, Jay Baller, George Vukovich, and Jerry Willard to the Cleveland Indians for Von Hayes

This infamous 5-for-1 trade is often pointed to as a shining example of the terrible trades the Phillies made over the years. It isn't. While I suppose the visual of trading five players, including the popular Trillo and prize of the farm system Franco, for one player is not good, the trade is not nearly as bad as many paint it to be. While Hayes never developed into the superstar the Phillies front office projected for him, he was a very good player for the Phillies for nine years. He was a solid contributor to the 1983 pennant winners. In his best year, 1986, he led the league with 46 doubles and hit .305. For much of his career he was a doubles machine. He played all three outfield positions and first base. He was a good, not great, player. playing under the burden of the constant reminder that he was Mr. 5-for-1.

Meanwhile, Trillo was pretty much a part-time player after leaving the Phillies, changing teams frequently. Baller never developed into a major league pitcher. Willard was a marginal backup catcher. Vukovich had three solid seasons as a platoon outfielder for Cleveland and then went to play in Japan. The total WAR (Wins Above Replacement) for these four players after they left the Phillies was 8.9. 

The 5-for-1 trade really boils down to a straight up deal: Julio Franco for Von Hayes. Franco turned out to be a better player than Hayes. He had six very good seasons with the Indians followed by five mostly very good seasons with the Rangers, followed by several seasons as a valued role player for Atlanta. So yes, the Phillies got the worst of this trade. But they still got one good player and gave up one very good player, which is more than can be said for the other trades discussed here. 

July 2000: Curt Schilling to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa, Vincente Padilla, and Travis Lee

July 2002: Scott Rolen and Doug Nickle to the St. Louis Cardinals for Placido Polanco, Bud Smith, and Mike Timlin

I group these final two trades together because they had something in common: The two superstars the Phillies traded away forced the team into these trades. Schilling and Rolen were both loud and persistent in stating their desire to get out of town, Schilling to play for a winner and Rolen to get away from Philadelphia. All the other teams in both leagues knew that the Phillies were in a weakened bargaining position, which is why the Phillies came away with so little return for two great players. Of the players the Phillies got in return Polanco was very good, but needed to be moved to make room for the young Chase Utley, and Padilla was a serviceable starter for a few years. The Phillies didn't get much for Schilling and Rolen, but they get a partial pass from me because their star players put them over a barrel.

I haven't mentioned here the Dick Allen for Curt Flood trade. That trade deserves a post of its own and I will get to that someday. For now, let's conclude that when it comes to the Phillies and trades, it's complicated. 

Lefty Don Carman Misses a "Perfecto" by Inches

Carman's 1985 Tastykake Card

If you search for video of former Phillies pitcher Don Carman on You Tube, you won't find any footage of him pitching. The only clip is one of him hitting. In the clip (see below) Richie Ashburn and Harry Kalas describe Carman's first major league hit, which came on May 16, 1987, after he had gone hitless in his previous 48 at bats over three-plus seasons. In 2011, Carman was named the second worst hitting pitcher (next to Ron Herbel) in major league history by Al Yellen of SBNation. Despite his futility with a bat in his hand, Carman was a pretty good pitcher over eight seasons with some pretty poor Phillies teams. On August 20, 1986, he came within a catchable fly ball of pitching a perfect game against the San Francisco Giants. 

In July of 1986, Carman was moved into the Phillies rotation after he had spent the past year-and-a-half as a successful reliever. The August 20 game was his eighth career start. The Phillies, 60-59 at that point of the season, were in San Francisco to play a Wednesday afternoon game at Candlestick Park against the 61-58 Giants. Carman's mound opponent was the Giants ace Mike Krukow. It was a bright sunny day with Candlestick's usual swirling wind. The sun and wind would play a significant role in the game as we shall see.

Using his fastball. split finger fastball. and improved slider, Carmen was on his game throughout. After the game Carmen told reporters, "I started thinking about [a perfect game] in the second inning. It was without question the best I've ever felt on the mound. I guess if I ever have perfect game stuff, this was the day." 

The Giants were not getting anything that was even close to a hit. Gary Redus flagged down Candy Maldonado's soft liner to left with a sliding grab, but it was not a difficult catch. Von Hayes made a couple of good running catches of foul balls beyond first base, but those were clearly fouls. Carman kept inducing soft contact. Pitching coach, Claude Osteen said Carman put all of his pitchers together on this day, "It was beautiful to watch."

Unfortunately for Carman, the Phillies were unable to dent Krukow for a run. The Phillies got two men on in the first, but Mike Schmidt grounded into an inning ending double play. Von Hayes led off the seventh with a single but was rubbed out when Glenn Wilson bounced into another twin killing. In the eighth, Juan Samuel led off with a single, moved to second as catcher Ronn Reynolds bounced out softly to short and then moved to third on a Steve Jeltz line single to left. The rally died, however, when Samuel was caught in a run down and tagged out on a Carman bunt. Redus ended the inning with a flyout to left field.

With the score knotted at 0-0, Giants catcher Bob Brenly led off the bottom of the ninth. Carman had retired 24 consecutive batters. Brenly launched a high drive to left center field. Carman said, "At first I thought it was a home run. and I immediately thought 'you've gone from perfect game to losing pitcher in one pitch.'" Brenly also thought he hit it well enough to go out. "But having played in Candlestick for five years, I know to take nothing for granted."

Meanwhile, centerfielder Milt Thompson was battling sun and wind in an attempt to track down the ball. "The thing is at first, it looked like a sure home run, but the wind here makes you try to chase every ball down. And then the sun was really tough. I had my sunglasses down, but I lost sight of the ball a couple times while I was chasing it, and I finally just stuck out my glove and hoped the ball would fall into it." It didn't. The ball fell just beyond Thompson's reach for a double that ended the perfect game. "I gave it my absolute best shot," said Thompson.* Redus, who was chasing the ball down from his left-field position, said, "I could have caught it, but Milt looked like he was in better position."

Some Phillies players speculated that speedy Jeff Stone, who had been playing centerfield in recent weeks, might have caught up to the ball, but right fielder Wilson came to Thompson's defense, saying, "There ain't no routine balls in this place."

With his perfect game and no-hitter now history, Carman went about trying to win the game. Anticipating a bunt from the next batter Jose Uribe, third baseman Schmidt called for the wheel play with him charging and shortstop Jeltz covering third. It worked and Brenly was cut down at third on Uribe's bunt. After pitcher Krukow sacrificed Uribe to second, Phillies manager John Felske ordered Carman to walk leadoff hitter, Dan Gladden. It was Carman's only walk of the game. Carman then got pinch hitter Joel Youngblood to pop out to end the inning. Carman had thrown 112 pitches on the afternoon.

In the tenth, Samuel gave the Phillies the lead with a one out solo home run to right. "He finally hung that breaking ball and I just went with it," said Sammy. Later in the inning, with two outs and Jeltz on first with another single, Felske sent Stone up to hit for Carman. Stone also singled, but the inning ended when Redus struck out. Steve Bedrosian came on to retire the heart of the Giants order, Chili Davis, Will Clark, and Chris Brown, in rapid order to save the 1-0 win for Carman.

Osteen also wanted to credit catcher Reynolds for his handling of Carman. "I have to take my hat off to the way Ronn Reynolds caught him. He worked him exactly the way we talked about. It was a great job by Reynolds." For his part Reynolds said, "All I know was it was a real fun game to be in. It was a thrill to be back there catching a game like that."

Carman continued to pitch well for the remainder of the season and finally got his first complete game shutout a month later, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-0, on September 15 at Veterans Stadium.

Don Carman was an entertaining character who readily admitted he was not only a left-handed pitcher, but also a "left-handed thinker." He was famous for regaling reporters with pithy baseball cliches after a ball game. Finally, in 1990, he published a list of 37 of his sayings and hung them on his locker for reporters to use at will. The list was published in newspapers across the country. My favorite is "I don't get paid to hit." You can read the full list here.

Carman was a key starting pitcher for the Phillies in 1987-88 until he hit a speedbump for a bad 1989 team and recorded a 5-15 record, leading the league in losses. After one more season in the Phillies bullpen, Carman bounced from the Cincinnati Reds to the Texas Rangers, before hanging up his spikes after the 1992 season. 

In retirement, Carman returned to college and earned a degree in sports psychology. He had become interested in the profession through his work with famed sports guru, Harvey Dorfman, who later became famous as Roy Halladay's mentor.  Carmen has become a respected sports psychologist working with professional baseball players to deal with the stresses of the baseball life. He continues that work from his home in Naples, Florida to this day. 

* Some reports have claimed Brenly's ball hit off the heel of Thompson's glove before falling to the ground, but no reporter on that day and no Phillies player said they saw that. 

Don Carman's first major league hit after going 0-48.

Phillies 1957: Round Ron Northey Delivers in the Pinch

Northey in his first stint with the Phillies

By the time Ron Northey arrived in the Phillies clubhouse for his second tour of duty with the team, on July 30, 1957, his build, which had always been on the stocky side, had progressed to what many pundits were calling "roly-poly." Philadelphia Inquirer sportswriter, Dan Daniels said "his shape....is reminiscent of a fire hydrant in tweeds by Hart, Shaffner, and Marx." At 37-years-old, 5'10" and somewhere north of 240 pounds, Northey was a liability in the field and on the bases, but he could still hit. That ability to "swish the bat", as Edgar Munzel of The Sporting News put it, kept Northey in the major leagues. Released by the Chicago White Sox on July 29th, the pennant contending Phillies were quick to scoop him up.

On the morning of July 30, "Round Ron" signed his contract with the Phillies. That evening he was on the bench as the Phillies played the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, wearing his specially fitted red pinstriped Phillies uniform, number 26. In the eighth inning with the Phillies behind, 5-4, two out, and Rip Repulski on first, Phillies manager, Mayo Smith called on Northey to pinch-hit for Chico Fernandez. The pitcher was the Red's ace reliever, Hersh Freeman. Northey stepped into the left-handed batter's box, hung his "bay window" over the plate, and took a couple of practice cuts. Northey worked the count to 2-1 and then deposited a high fastball deep into the right field bleachers. Phillies 6, Cincinnati 5.

From there relief pitcher Bob Miller held the Reds in check and the Phillies added a couple of unearned insurance runs to take the game, 8-5. Northey's pinch hit dinger was the big blow of the game. The blow was the ninth pinch-homer of Northey's major league career, tying the record set by the Phillies' Cy Williams and the New York Giants' Bobby Hoffman. "That was a record I've been after a long time. It felt good, real good. I don't know what kind of pitch it was, but I hit it on the fat,” said Northey without irony.

Northey appeared in 33 games for the Phillies that year. He appeared in 40 games for the White Sox before his release. That's 73 games. In all of those 73 appearances he was used as a pinch hitter. He never started a game. He never appeared in the field. At the time, it was a major league record for games played without appearing on defense. Northey set another record that year. Whenever he did manage to get on base, by hit, walk, or fielder's choice, he was replaced by a pinch runner, so Northey was never driven in for a run. The only run he scored all season was the one on July 30 when he drove himself in. Twenty-nine times on base without being driven in for a run was another major league record. That record was broken by the St. Louis Cardinal's Bob Nieman in 1961.

On August 26, Northey struck again. The Phillies were tied 3-3 in the ninth inning of a game against the league-leading Milwaukee Braves. The Phillies managed to get the bases loaded on walks to Ted Kazanski and Harry Anderson around a single by Fernandez. Northey batted for Phils reliever Turk Farrell and lashed a single to right off Braves pitcher Ernie Johnson, scoring Kazanski for the walk-off win. By that time, however, the Phillies pennant hopes had faded in the summer sun as a poor August record saw them tumble out of contention.

As mentioned above, this short stint with the Phillies at the end of his career was his second go-round with the team. Northey had been a regular in the World War II era Phillies outfield. In 1939, as a youngster, he had been signed out of the coal mining town of Frackville, PA, by the Philadelphia Athletics. Connie Mack sold Northey to the Phillies in 1941. Northey became the Phillies regular right fielder in 1942 and established himself as a fine hitter. His best season was 1944, when he slashed .288/.367/.496 with 22 home runs and 104 RBIs. He got some MVP votes that year. Northey missed the 1945 season due to military service, but returned to right field for the Phillies in 1946.

Northey was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1947 for Harry (The Hat) Walker. Walker became the National League batting champion with the Phillies, while Northey became a regular in the St. Louis outfield and continued to put up good offensive numbers. By the late 1940s, Northey was playing less and less in the field and being relegated more and more to pinch hitting duty. His battle with weight, which made him a liability in the field, contributed to the trend. He played for Cincinnati Reds, briefly for the Chicago Cubs, and then the Chicago White Sox before landing back with the Phillies. If they had had the designated hitter during his heyday, Northey might have been one of the all-time greats.

After 1957, Northey served as a hitting coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates. His son Scott, who was born in Philadelphia during Northey's first stop in town, had a cup of coffee with the Kansas City Royals in 1969. Ron Northey died April 16, 1971, at the age of 50. He still shares, with Willie McCovey, Ben Broussard, and Rich Reese, the major league record for most pinch-hit grand slams in a career at three.

Pitcher Bob Miller: The Injury that Hurt for a Decade

June 25, 1950, is a day which should live in infamy for every Philadelphia Phillies fan. On that day, the Phillies phenomenal rookie pitcher Bob Miller suffered an injury that would resonate through the Phillies franchise for years to come. The Phillies split a Sunday doubleheader that day with the Chicago Cubs. With the Phillies scheduled to play a "City Series" exhibition game that Monday with the Philadelphia Athletics, Phillies manager Eddie Sawyer decided to send Miller ahead of the team to Boston. Miller could then be well rested for his scheduled Tuesday start against the Braves. 

As Miller rushed up the steps of North Philadelphia Station to catch his train, he missed a step and wrenched his back. When Sawyer saw his bent over rookie in Boston he exclaimed, "You look like you slept in a bathtub." Miller missed his start in Boston. He returned to the mound on July 1, and while he still pitched well for a few more starts, the back injury forced him to alter his pitching motion, which eventually caused him to develop a sore arm. Miller pitched very little in September as the Phillies battled for the pennant. Down three games to none in the World Series, a desperate Sawyer started him against the Yankees in Game 4 of the World Series, but he lasted just 1/3 of an inning. While Miller hung on with the Phillies for another eight years, he was never again fully free of back pain.

At the time of the injury, Miller had a 6-0 record and microscopic 1.62 ERA. He had come from nowhere to fit in nicely as the third starter behind Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons on the formidable Phillies staff. Miller's entry into professional baseball had been delayed by a stint in the army during World War 2. He saw action in the Philippines and then was stationed in occupied Japan. Upon his discharge he enrolled at the University of Detroit in his hometown. After excelling for a summer league team in 1947, Miller was recruited by the Phillies and signed for a $25,000 bonus. 

Assigned to the Class B Terre Haute Phillies in the Three-I League he compiled a 6-5 record in 1948 and then had a breakout season in 1949, going 19-9 at Terre Haute and earning a September callup. He pitched himself onto the roster in spring training in 1950, surprising even himself by making the jump from Class B ball to the majors. Miller was 24, older than the two established members of the pitching rotation, Roberts (23) and Simmons (21). Sawyer said of his rookie pitcher, "He is the only pitcher I have ever seen who has more stuff in the game than he has on the sidelines." Sawyer compared the 6'3", 190-pound Miller to Dizzy Dean. Miller didn't throw as hard as Dean, or Roberts and Simmons for that matter, but he had a sinking fastball, a sweeping curveball, and excellent control. 

Miller impressed in two early season relief appearances and then got his first start on April 29 against the Braves at Shibe Park. His battery mate was fellow Detroit native, Stan Lopata, who had been his catcher on the local American Legion team back before they were both drafted into the army. Miller beat the Braves, 2-1, with a complete game six-hitter. The only run he allowed was unearned due to a Lopata throwing error. His one out single in the third inning started the rally that led to the Phillies two runs. In the ninth, clinging to that one run lead, Miller got the first two outs and then gave up a walk and a double. With runners on second and third, manager Sawyer walked to the mound. After a brief discussion he allowed Miller to stay in. Miller then walked the Braves Tommy Holmes. With left-handed hitting Earl Torgeson coming up, Sawyer again popped out of the dugout, but changed his mind at the top step and went back. Torgeson lined a ball to the gap in right, but Del Ennis flagged it down for the final out.

Miller won his next start against the St. Louis Cardinals, although he needed help from Jim Konstanty. On May 25, he recorded his third straight win and first career shutout, closing down the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-0. On June 7, he shut out the Cincinnati Reds, 4-0, driving in two runs himself. After back-to-back shutouts, even umpire Frank Dascoli was impressed. "I've never seen such poise in a young pitcher," he told the Spokane Daily Chronicle. 

On June 22, three days before his freak injury, Miller defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-4, aided by a seventh-inning triple play that Miller started himself. With runners on first and third, Miller snagged a come backer and wheeled and threw to shortstop Granny Hamner at second, Hamner threw to first baseman Eddie Waitkus for the second out and Waitkus threw to Lopata to cut down the Bucco's Ted Beard trying to score. If you're scoring at home that is your basic 1-6-3-2 triple play.

After the injury, Miller continued to pitch effectively, running his record to 8-0. His first loss did not come until July 16, when he was bombed by the Cubs at Wrigley Field, 10-3, in the second game of a doubleheader. The altered motion, though, inevitably led to the arm troubles that forced him to make fewer and less successful appearances. His ERA rose from 1.62 to 3.57 as the Phillies fought to hold on in the pennant race. On September 16, in the seventh inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds, the arm gave out. "I went out to pitch the seventh inning, and holy geez, I had a lot of pain in my right shoulder."

The sore shoulder and back issues lingered into the 1951 and 1952 seasons. In '51, Miller appeared in only 17 games for the Phillies, as the defending National League Champions fell to 5th place. The loss of Miller, and Curt Simmons, who was still in the service, didn't help. In '52 Miller recovered enough to pitch fairly well for the Phillies minor league club in Baltimore, but he made only three appearances for the big club. Back with the team as a spot starter and reliever, Miller posted mediocre records in '53 and '54. In 1955, new manager Mayo Smith used Miller exclusively in relief and he responded with his best year since his rookie campaign, appearing in 40 games, compiling an 8-4 record and fine 2.41 ERA. Miller was an effective reliever for the rest of his career with the Phillies, with the exception of one significant stretch as a starter.

In August 1956, Miller was pressed into action as a starter due to injuries to the Phillies starting staff. On August 11, he made his first start in three years and worked seven innings losing ,5-2, to the Brooklyn Dodgers on four unearned runs. The Phillies won his next start, 3-2, again against the Dodgers, with Ron Negray getting the win in relief. In his third start, Miller pitched the greatest game of his career.

Facing the league leading Braves in Milwaukee, Miller pitched a two-hit shutout, winning 3-0. He retired the first 14 batters he faced. After a Bobby Thompson single broke up the no-hitter in the fifth, Miller worked out of a jam in the sixth that was caused by a Willie "Puddinhead" Jones error, getting Henry Aaron to pop out. The Phillies managed to eke out two runs in the first inning on doubles by Richie Ashburn and Lopata. Miller himself scored the Phillies third run on a Marv Blaylock sacrifice fly in the eighth. Miller ran into trouble in the ninth. With one out, Johnny Logan singled. After Aaron hit a long flyball to Ashburn in center for the second out, Eddie Mathews walked. Slugging Joe Adcock walked to the plate. Manager Smith walked to the mound. Just as Eddie Sawyer had done six years before, Smith decided to leave Miller in to finish his game. Miller got Adcock to pop a fastball to shallow right where Jim Greengrass caught it for the final out. 

There seems little question that the injury that Bob Miller suffered running to catch a train had a profound impact on the fortunes of the Phillies for most of a decade. First, he was sore and ineffective in the 1950 World Series. Playing without Simmons, who had been called into the army, and with a compromised  Miller, the Phillies were easy prey for the mighty Yankees. The long-term impact may have been even greater. After winning the 1950 pennant, the Phillies languished as a good, but not very good, team. One important reason the "Whiz Kids" never repeated as National League champs was that a fine young pitcher with a bright future tripped on the steps of North Philadelphia Station on June 25, 1950.

Richie Ashburn, Bob Miller, and Marv Blaylock
celebrate Miller's two-hit shutout, August 25, 1956