Raymond Roger Miller was born on April 30, 1945 in Takoma Park, Maryland and passed away on May 5, 2021 in Weirton, West Virginia.
Ray Miller attended Suitland High School where he played baseball, basketball and soccer earning All-State honors in basketball. MLB.com shows that Ray Miller served with the US Army’s First Armored Division after graduating from Suitland High School in 1963. According to Miller, he signed a professional contract with the San Francisco Giants in 1962 but he did not pitch professionally until 1964. Miller toiled in the minor leagues for ten season (1864-1974) but never got a chance to show his stuff as a major league pitcher and he retired as an active player at the relatively young age of 28. Why did he retire so young? Check out “Obituary: Ray Miller (1945-2021)” on the RIP Baseball site, a wonderful write-up you should not miss about a man that seemed to avoid publicity.
After his playing career ended Miller became a minor league pitching instructor for the Baltimore Orioles from 1974-1977. After the 1977 season ended Miller agreed to join the Texas Rangers coaching staff but when the Baltimore Orioles pitching coach position suddenly opened up after George Bamberger left the Orioles for the Milwaukee Brewers managing gig, the Rangers let Miller out of his contract. Miller served as the Orioles pitching coach with great success form 1978 through 1984 coaching 20-game winners like Jim Palmer, Mike Boddicker, Mike Flanagan, Steve Stone, and Scott McGregor.
His skills as a pitching coach made him a sought after managerial candidate and the Minnesota Twins hired him on June 21, 1985 to replace Billy Gardner. Although Miller managed the Twins to a 50-50 record in 1985 the team under-performed in 1986 and on September 12 he was relieved of his duties and Tom Kelly took over as the interim manager.
Miller found his way back to the coaching ranks, spending ten seasons as pitching mentor of the Pittsburgh Pirates (1987–96) working for Jim Leyland and one (1997) back in Baltimore under Davey Johnson. When Johnson resigned at the close of the Orioles’ AL East Division championship season, Miller replaced him as manager. However, over the next two seasons (1998–99), the Orioles played ten games under .500, and he was fired in favor of Mike Hargrove in November 1999. Miller again returned to coaching for the Orioles from 2004-2005 but suffered an aneurysm which required surgery and Miller decided to retire after the 2005 season. Ray Miller was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame five years later on August 7, 2010
We at Twinstrivia.com thank Ray Miller for the memories and we send our condolences to the Ray Miller family, friends and fans.