Joseph H. "Cyclone" Miller (September 24, 1859 – October 13, 1916) was an American

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

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) ...

born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He played just two seasons in the majors, but did play with four teams in three leagues. He stood at 5'9".

Career

1884

Miller's major league career began in 1884 for the Chicago Browns/Pittsburgh Stogies of the

Union Association The Union Association was a league in Major League Baseball which lasted for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelve teams who were in the Association at some poi ...

. He lasted just one start, in which he threw a complete-game victory, allowing only two runs. He then moved on to the

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National Lea ...

, filling in the rotation due to injuries to their top pitchers,

Charles Radbourn Charles Gardner Radbourn (December 11, 1854 – February 5, 1897), nicknamed "Old Hoss", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for Buffalo (1880), Providence (1881–1885), ...

and Charlie Sweeney. Even though he did pitch well for long stretches during the games, he struggled to secure the victories in the late innings and was replaced. On July 31, 1884, in a road game versus the

New York Gothams The New York Giants were a Major League Baseball team in the National League that began play in the season as the New York Gothams and were renamed in . They continued as the New York Giants until the team relocated to San Francisco, Californi ...

, he was appointed

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

due to the scheduled umpire calling in sick. The New York fans thought his calls were decidedly one-sided toward his Grays team, and he had to have a police escort off the field after the game. The game ended in a 3-3 tie. On one occasion, with Miller playing

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

, the manager had wanted Sweeney to switch from pitcher to right field to bring in Miller to pitch in the 9th inning. Sweeney refused the move and walked off the field, and because of the rules during that time, Miller had to pitch the game with only two

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

s. He lost the game, and Sweeney was suspended for a game for violating the manager's order. Instead of serving the suspension, Sweeney quit the team and joined the

St. Louis Maroons The St. Louis Maroons were a professional baseball club based in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1884–1886. The club, established by Henry Lucas, were the one near-major league quality entry in the Union Association, a league that lasted only one ...

of Union Association, leaving Radbourn to shoulder the team's pitching duties for the rest of the season. It was that season that Radbourn set his all-time record for wins with 60, which under today's rules would have only been 59 because in one game, he relieved Miller with Providence having the lead after five innings. On September 13, when the team departed on a lengthy road trip, they decided not to bring Miller along with them, thus ending his short tenure with the team. He compiled a 3–2 records in five starts and one relief appearance that resulted in a late-inning loss. He is also on record as having pitched one game for the Philadelphia Quakers during the 1884 season. In that game, he pitched a complete-game loss, giving up 19 runs, 10 of them earned.

1886

Miller spent 1885 in the minor leagues. He started 1886 with Macon of the Southern Association but finished it with the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakl ...

of the American Association. He went 10-8 that season, completing all of his starts and throwing one

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

. On August 20, he threw a one-hitter, giving up his one hit in the ninth inning and losing 1-0 to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, and their young fireballer Matt Kilroy. During this season, he played one game at

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

, becoming one of only 36 left-handed players to have played at least one game at that position.

Later life

Miller died at the age of 57 in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

, and was interred at Comstock Cemetery in

Montville, Connecticut Montville is a town in New London County, Connecticut in the United States. The population was 18,387 at the 2020 census. The villages of Chesterfield, Mohegan, Oakdale, and Uncasville are located within the town; the latter two have their own ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Cyclone 1859 births 1916 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Chicago Browns/Pittsburgh Stogies players Philadelphia Quakers players Providence Grays players Philadelphia Athletics (AA) players Worcester (minor league baseball) players Indianapolis Hoosiers (minor league) players Macon (minor league baseball) players Springfield (minor league baseball) players Lincoln Tree Planters players Jackson Jaxons players Baseball players from Springfield, Massachusetts