Darrell Keith Miller Sr. (born February 26, 1958) is an American former professional baseball player. While with the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

, he was a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

and

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 catch ...

, playing from 1984 to 1988. He is also a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

, the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

ordained in the Diocese of Orange. As of 2021, he serves as the director of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

's Urban Youth Academy, located in

Compton, California Compton is a city located in the Gateway Cities region of southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county, and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth ci ...

Career

Before being drafted to the

(MLB), he played three seasons at

California State Polytechnic University California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is a public polytechnic research university in Pomona, California, United States. It is the largest of the three polytechnic universities in the California State University syst ...

Pomona, California Pomona ( ) is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population was ...

. He played his entire career for the

, the team that drafted him in the 9th round of the

1979 Major League Baseball Draft The 1979 Major League Baseball draft was held on June 5–7, 1979, via conference call. First round selections The following are the first-round picks in the 1979 Major League Baseball draft. ''*'' Did not sign Compensation Picks Other ...

. He played in 224 career MLB games, batting .241 with 13

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

s, 8

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, and 35

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

, in 394

at-bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, b ...

. As a member of the team in 1986, the Angels advanced to the

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. The winner of the ALCS wins the AL pennant and ...

, losing to the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

Personal life

Miller is the brother of

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

members

Cheryl Miller Cheryl Deann Miller (born January 3, 1964) is an American former basketball player. She was formerly a sideline reporter for NBA on TNT, NBA games on Turner Sports, TNT Sports and also works for NBA TV as a reporter and analyst, having worked ...

and

Reggie Miller Reginald Wayne Miller (born August 24, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, played his entire 18-year career in the National Basketball Assoc ...

. He attended Ramona High School in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

in the mid 1970s. He is married to Kelly Miller and has three children; Darrell Jr., Nicole and Cameron. Miller converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

after unsuccessfully attempting to convert Kelly to his former

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

faith. He became a Catholic

in October 2021, the first

ordained to that office in the Diocese of Orange.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
1958 births Living people African-American baseball players African-American Catholics American expatriate baseball players in Canada Anaheim Angels scouts Baseball players from Washington, D.C. Cal Poly Pomona Broncos baseball players Calgary Cannons players California Angels players California Angels scouts Catholics from California Catholics from Washington, D.C. Columbus Clippers players Converts to Roman Catholicism from Baptist denominations Edmonton Trappers players Holyoke Millers players Idaho Falls Angels players Major League Baseball catchers Rochester Red Wings players Salinas Angels players Salt Lake City Gulls players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Tigres de Aragua players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen American Roman Catholic deacons Riverside Polytechnic High School alumni {{US-baseball-catcher-1950s-stub African-American Roman Catholic deacons