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.
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| Richie Ashburn, Bob Miller, and Marv Blaylock celebrate Miller's two-hit shutout, August 25, 1956 |
Excellent article! Thanks for writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Joe
DeleteBob Miller was right there with Roberts and Simmons in 1950. He had a sinking fastball and nasty curve. Bengough said he “could hit a dime with his curve every time”. As you point out, his injury though unrealized at the time, was a killer for the Whiz Kids future. Bob was a 15-20 game winner for the next ten years had he not been injured. And a great, great guy!
DeleteSo true. One of the often ignored causes for the Phillies decline in the 50s. Bob and his pitching motion are burned in my memory.
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