John Barney "Dots" Miller (September 9, 1886 – September 5, 1923) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and second baseman. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) from 1909 through 1921 for the Pittsburgh Pirates,

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, and Philadelphia Phillies.

Career

Miller started his major league career with the Pirates. In his rookie season, he drove in 87 runs and helped Pittsburgh win the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

pennant and their first

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

title. Miller was the regular second baseman from 1909 to 1911 but then moved over to first base. In the years since his death (beginning at least as early as a 1935 story penned by one-time Phillies teammate

Stan Baumgartner Stanwood Fulton Baumgartner (December 14, 1894 – October 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher who became a longtime sportswriter in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born in Houston and raised in Chicago, Baumgartner played for the ...

), Miller's nickname has frequently been attributed to a simple misinterpretation of teammate

Honus Wagner Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pitts ...

's heavily accented response, "That's Miller." However, on May 12, 1909, the first day the name "Dots Miller" appeared in a Pittsburgh newspaper, it was made abundantly clear that this was a childhood nickname, stemming from Miller's own German ancestry, and accent. Indeed, this was confirmed in a story published shortly before his death, during his unsuccessful bout with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

."Sports Snap Shots"
''The Albuquerque Journal''. August 19, 1923. Accessed 2020-04-29. In 1913, Miller was traded to the Cardinals, where he continued his good hitting and fielding for the next few years. In 1918 Miller's career was interrupted while he served in World War I. Miller became manager of a Pacific Coast League team, the San Francisco Seals, in 1922. He led the club to the pennant in his first year. The following season, the Seals were league with by ten games when, on July 23, Miller was forced to step down after contracting tuberculosis. He died on September 5. In 1589 games over 12 seasons, Miller posted a .263

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(1526-for-5804) with 711 runs, 232 doubles, 108 triples, 32 home runs, 714 RBI, 177 stolen bases, 391 bases on balls, .314 on-base percentage and .357 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .974 fielding percentage playing at first, second, third base and shortstop. In the

1909 World Series The 1909 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1909 season. The sixth edition of the World Series, it featured the National League champion Pittsburgh Pirates against the American League champion Detroit Tiger ...

, he hit .250 (7-for-28) with 2 runs, 4 RBI, 3 stolen bases and 2 walks.

Soccer

Miller was also noted as a soccer player.May 22, 1909 Sporting Life
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Dots 1886 births 1923 deaths Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball second basemen Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Louis Cardinals players Philadelphia Phillies players Easton (minor league baseball) players McKeesport Tubers players San Francisco Seals (baseball) managers San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Baseball players from New Jersey Minor league baseball managers American soccer players People from Kearny, New Jersey Sportspeople from Hudson County, New Jersey Association footballers not categorized by position American military personnel of World War I 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state)

Career

Soccer

See also

References

External links