One-time MLB manager Ray Miller has passed away at the age of 76.
Miller took over in the Twins in mid-1985, and was 50-50 as they finished 4th. The next year, he was 59-80 when he was replaced by Tom Kelly. The Twins finished 6th. Kelly led the Twins to the WS Championship in 1987.
Miller then managed the Orioles in 1998 and 1999, going 79-83, then 78-84, finishing 4th both years.
He was 266-297 as a manager, winning pct. .472 which over a 162 game season, averages out as 76-86.
It would have been nice to see two or even three Yankee captains entering the HOF on the same day but it won’t happen.
Thurman Munson and Don Mattingly were not elected to the HOF yesterday by a committee, so neither will be joining Derek Jeter (expected to get in, perhaps unanimously, by the writers) and Tommy John was not elected either.
Elected were Marvin Miller and Ted Simmons.
Miller, who died in 2012 at the age of 95, was a union leader who fought for players rights, such as free agency and against the reserve clause and as a result, player’s salaries skyrocketed.
Simmons, a switch-hitting C, played for St. Louis 1968-1980, Milwaukee 1981-1985, and Atlanta 1986-1988. He helped the Brewers win the 1982 AL Pennant. He got MVP consideration 7x, finished in the top 10 3x, and was an 8x All Star. His 162 g. average was .285-16-92 with an OPS+ of 118. He hit .186-3-8 in 17 postseason games. He had 2472 hits and 248 HR.
Posted in Awards, Ex-Players, Mike's Musings
AAA: The Yanks traded INF Brad Miller off of SWB to the Phillies for cash considerations.
SWB (38-26) lost 4-3. SS Breyvic Valera 2 hits (.416). 3B Thairo Estrada 2 hits, RBI. Brody Koerner (L, 3-1, 3.25) 7 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 W, 5 K. Gave up 1 HR.
AA: Trenton (36-25) won 4-1. DH Chris Gittens 2 for 2 w/a walk. C Kellin Deglan 2-run HR. 1B Brandon Wagner 2 hits, solo HR. Weather shortened game to 7 innings.
High A: Tampa (28-38) rained out.
Low A: Charleston (36-31) won 10-0 on a 1-hitter. Last year’s first-round draft pick, C Anthony Seigler, 2 hits. LF Canaan Smith (.316) 3 hits, 4 RBI, as he hit two two-run HR. 2B Kyle Gray 2 hits, 3 RBI. CF Omar Carrizales 2 hits, 2 RBI. SS Eduardo Torrealba 2 for 2 with a walk, 1 RBI.
Medina (W, 1-4, 7.43) 6 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 3 K.
Marinaccio (S, 1) 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 4 K. 0.00
Standings:
SWB 1st in International League North by 5 1/2 games
Trenton 1st in Eastern League Eastern Division by 1 game (Magic #8 for first half title)
Tampa 5th in Florida State League North, 13 1/2 out. First half over this weekend, didn’t qualify for postseason in the first half. Second half?
Charleston 1st in South Atlantic South by 1 game. (Magic #3 for first half title).
Posted in In-Season Moves, Mike's Musings, Minor Leagues, Players, Regular Season
Tagged Carrizales, Deglan, Estrada, Gittens, Gray, Koerner, Marinaccio, Medina, Miller, Seigler, Smith, Torrealba, Valera, Wagner
The Yanks signed soon-to-be 39 year old C Erik Kratz for catching depth. He is now with SWB. The journeyman catcher was with the Yanks in 2017 and got into four games that year with them.
AAA: SWB (36-25) swept a DH.
Regular game: Won 7-5. 1B Mike Ford grand slam. CF Mike Tauchman 3 for 3. DH Logan Morrison 2 hits, RBI. RF Ryan McBroom 2 RBI.
Makeup of 4/28 postponement: Won 14-3. 2B Breyvic Valera (.407) 2 hits. 1B Ford (.350) 2 hits. LF Tauchman 3 hits, RBI. C Kyle Higashioka 2 hits, 4 RBI, a 2-run HR. 3B Brad Miller 2 hits, 3 RBI, a 2-run HR. McBroom 2 hits (.323). DH Morrison 3-run HR.
AA: Trenton (34-24) only got three hits but won 1-0. RF Rashad Crawford solo HR. C Kellin Deglan 2 hits.
Stephan (W, 1-3, 5.40) 5 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Lail (H, 1) 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 3 K. 0.00
Carter (S, 1) 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. 2.56
High A: Tampa (27-35) won 5-0. 1B Dermis Garcia 3 for 3, 2 RBI, 2-run HR. SS Diego Castillo 2 hits, 2 RBI.
Frank German (W, 3-3, 3.83) 5 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 3 W, 8 K.
Bristo (H,1) 3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K. 2.40
Weissert 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. 5.40
Low A: Charleston (34-29) lost 3-2. LF Canaan Smith 2 for 2, 2 walks (.318). DH Omar Carrizales 2 hits.
Posted in In-Season Moves, Mike's Musings, Minor Leagues, Players, Regular Season
Tagged Bristo, Carrizales, Carter, Castillo, Crawford, Deglan, Ford, Garcia, German, Higashioka, Kratz, Lail, McBroom, Miller, Morrison, Smith, Stephan, Tauchman, Valera, Weissert
AAA: SWB (33-24) lost 3-2. LF Brad Miller 4 for 4, solo HR, 4 of SWB’s 6 hits.
AA: Trenton (33-22) lost 9-3. LF Zach Zehner 3 hits. 3B Mandy Alvarez a 2-run HR. SS Kyle Holder a solo HR.
High A: Tampa (24-35) lost 5-4. CF Pablo Olivares 2 hits. RF Steven Sensley 2 hits. 3B Welfrin Mateo a 2-run HR.
Low A: Charleston (33-27) won 6-2. 2B Kyle Gray 2 hits. DH Canaan Smith 2 hits, 2 RBI (.317). 3B Max Burt a 3-run HR. Tanner Myatt 3 scoreless relief innings.
Posted in Mike's Musings, Minor Leagues, Players, Regular Season
Tagged Alvarez, Burt, Gray, Holder, Mateo, Miller, Myatt, Olivares, Sensley, Smith, Zehner
Didi Gregorius continues his rehab with SWB tomorrow.
AAA: SWB (26-20) lost 9-5. DH Logan Morrison a 2-run HR, 3 RBI. 3B Brad Miller a 2-run HR. CF Billy Burns 2 hits.
AA: Trenton (29-19) won 11-2. 2B Hoy Jun Park (.313) 2 RBI. 1B Brandon Wagner 3 hits, 3 RBI, 2 HR (solo and a 2-run blast). LF Ben Ruta (.323) solo HR. DH Chris Gittens (.311) 2 hits. 3B Mandy Alvarez 2 hits. SS Kyle Holder 3 hits, solo HR. C Kellin Deglan 2 hits, 3 RBI.
High A: Tampa off.
Low A: Charleston (28-23) won 9-7. 2B Kyle Gray 2 hits. DH Canaan Smith 2 hits, 2 RBI. (.327). C Mickey Gasper 4 RBI. RF Frederick Cuevas 2 hits, RBI. LF Matt Pita 2 hits. 1B Mitchell Robinson 2-run HR.
AAA: SWB (25-19) won a 17-12 slugfest, hitting five HR. SS Tyler Wade 3 hits, RBI. DH Mike Ford 3 hits, 2 rbi, 2-Run HR. 2B Breyvic Valera 4 hits, 2 RBI, solo HR. LF Mike Tauchman 2 RBI. C Kyle Higashioka solo HR. 1B Logan Morrison 2 hits, RBI. RF Ryan McBroom 3 hits, 3 RBI. 3B Brad Miller 2 HR, 5 RBI. Shawn Semple, who started the year at Low A Charleston, had to make the start for SWB and gave up 8 runs in 3 1/3 IP. J.P. Feyeriesen the “W” with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, 7 K.
AA: Trenton (28-18) got a run in the top of the eighth and two in the top of the ninth to win 5-2. DH Mandy Alvarez 2 hits. 2B Wendell Rijo 2-run HR in the top of the 9th.
Deivi Garcia, who just turned 20, continues to impress. 6 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 0 W, 10 K. 3.46. Gave up 1 HR. Keep an eye on him for the future.
High A: Tampa (21-27) gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth and lost 2-1. In his first game for Tampa while on rehab, Didi Gregorius went 0 for 3. 1B Dermis Garcia HR. 2B David Metzgar 2 hits. Starter Josh Maciejewski 1 R in 5 IP. Reliever Andrew Bellatti 4 K in 2 scoreless IP.
Low A: Charleston (26-23) won 8-3. CF Brandon Lockridge 2 hits, 2 RBI. DH Josh Stowers 2 hits, RBI. SS Eduardo Torrealba 2 hits, 2 RBI. Roansy Contreras 
7 IP, 2 R, 8 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Posted in Mike's Musings, Minor Leagues, Players, Regular Season
Tagged Alvarez, Bellatti, Contreras, Feyereisen, Ford, Garcia, Gregorious, Higashioka, Lockridge, Maciejewski, McBroom, Metzgar, Miller, Morrison, Rijo, Semple, Stowers, Tauchman, Torrealba, Valera, Wade
AAA: SWB (20-17) split a DH.
Game 1 (Reg. scheduled game): won 10-5. DH Mike Ford 2 hits, 2 RBI, solo HR. SS Breyvic Valera 2 hits, RBI. CF Mike Tauchman 2 hits, RBI. 2B Tyler Wade 2 hits. 3B Brad Miller 2-run HR, 3 RBI. RF Trey Amburgey 2 hits, 2 RBI. Adonis Rosa (W, 1-0, 5.11 at AAA) 6 2/3 IP, 5 R, 3 ER (Wade made 2 errors), 10 H, 2 W, 6 K.
Game 2: (makeup of 5/12, which was supposed to be at SWB but had to be made up in Toledo) lost 5-0, getting just 2 hits.
AA: Trenton (23-14) won 6-2. 2B Hoy Jun Park 3 hits, 4 RBI. (.333). DH Gosuke Katoh 2 hits. LF Ben Ruta 2 hits, 2 RBI (.357). SS Kyle Holder 2 hits. Matt Wivinis with the “hold”, 3 scoreless IP of relief, 4 K. Brooks Kriske 2 scoreless for the save.
High A: Tampa (17-23) lost 8-6. CF Pablo Olivares 2 hits, RBI. SS Oswaldo Cabrera 2 RBI. LF Isiah Gilliam 2 hits, RBI. C Donny Sands 2 hits. DH Steven Sensley solo HR. RF Omar Carrizales 2 hits. 2B Wendell Rijo 2 hits, RBI.
Nice job by starter Glenn Otto, 6 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 W, 7 K, but reliever Greg Weissert gave up 5 runs, 3 earned, in 1 1/3 IP (2 HR).
Low A: Charleston (23-18) lost 8-3 in 10 innings. LF Canaan Smith 3 hits, RBI (.330). DH Josh Breaux 2 hits, RBI (.304). 3B Ricky Surum 2 hits. Starter Alexander Vizcaino 7 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 0 W, 10 K, but reliever Bryan Blanton gave up 5 R, 4 ER, in 2 IP for the loss.
AAA: SWB (19-16) won 7-4. RF Trey Amburgey 2 hits. C Kyle Higashioka solo HR. LF Brad Miller solo HR. SS Cliff Pennington 3-run HR. CF Billy Burns 3 hits, RBI. Drew Hutchison (W, 3-2, 5.60) 6 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 W, 9 K.
AA: Trenton (22-14) won 5-4. 1B Chris Gittens (.317-8-28) Solo HR. LF Zach Zehner 3-run HR. SS Kyle Holder 2 hits. Will Carter 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief for the win.
High A: Tampa (17-22) lost 5-0, getting just three hits.
Low A: Charleston (23-17) won 5-0. DH Josh Breaux 2 hits, 2 RBI. C Mickey Gasper (.312) 3 hits. LF Frederick Cuevas 2 hits. 3B Max Burt 2-run HR.
Luis Gil (W, 2-2, 0.82) 6 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 0 W, 4 K.
Jhony Brito 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 3 K. 1.08
Posted in Mike's Musings, Minor Leagues, Players, Regular Season
Tagged Amburgey, Breaux, Brito, Burns, Burt, Carter, Cuevas, Gasper, Gil, Gittens, Higashioka, Holder, Hutchison, Miller, Pennington, Zehner
AAA: SWB (18-16) lost 6-5. CF Tyler Wade 2 hits, RBI. C Ryan Lavarnway 2 RBI. 2B Breyvic Valera solo HR. DH Brad Miller solo HR. Starter David Hale 5 R in 3 IP. David Sosebee two scoreless innings of relief.
AA: Trenton (21-14) lost 5-0, getting just four hits, two by DH Chris Gittens. Starter Deivi Garcia (L, 1-2, 4.50) 5 IP, 3 R, 2 H, 2 W, 9 K. Matt Wivinis 2 scoreless relief innings.
High A: Tampa (17-21) lost 1-0, getting just three hits.
Miguel Yajure (L, 1-5, 3.52) 6 IP 1 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 W, 3 K.
Braden Bristo 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 1.65
Low A: Charleston (22-17) won 7-6 in 11 innings. CF Josh Stowers (.306) GW hit. DH Canaan Smith (.318) 2 hits. Starter Daniel Bies 1 R in 6 IP.
