Ray Miller obit

Twins mourn the loss of former manager Ray Miller

 

He was not on the list.

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL, MN – The entire Minnesota Twins organization is saddened by the death of former manager Ray Miller, who passed away last night at the age of 75.

“The Minnesota Twins are deeply saddened by the loss of Ray Miller. We send our condolences to the entire Miller family, as well as the other major league organizations that were impacted by his long career as a respected coach and mentor.”

A native of Takoma Park, Maryland, Miller spent over 40 years in the professional ranks as a player and coach. He played 10 seasons in the minor leagues from 1964-73, pitching in the San Francisco, Cleveland and Baltimore systems. He shifted to the coaching ranks in 1974, working in the Orioles’ system until 1977. Miller briefly served as the Texas Rangers’ pitching coach in 1978 before shifting to the same role with Baltimore, where he led a staff that helped win the American League pennant in 1979 and the World Series in 1983. He also oversaw Cy Young campaigns by Mike Flanagan (1979) and Steve Stone (1980) with Baltimore. Miller earned his first career MLB managerial job with the Twins in 1985 and led the team to a 109-130 record in parts of two seasons at Minnesota’s helm. He then spent the next 10 years of his career as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitching coach, where he was Doug Drabek’s coach when he won the 1990 AL Cy Young award. Miller’s final MLB managerial stint came with Baltimore from 1998-99 and he posted an overall record of 266-297 as a major league manager. He finished his career with the Orioles as a pitching coach, retiring in 2005, and was inducted into the Orioles’ Hall of Fame in 2010.

Miller was born in Takoma Park, Maryland, on April 30, 1945. He was raised in nearby Forestville and attended Suitland High School, where he was selected as an all-state player in baseball. He signed with the San Francisco Giants in 1963.

Miller made his minor league debut with the Lexington Giants of the Western Carolinas League in 1964. He split time evenly as starting pitcher and reliever in his rookie year, starting 18 of the 36 games he pitched that season. He was subsequently acquired by the Cleveland Indians the following season. Despite winning 16 games with the Reno Silver Sox of the Class A California League in 1968, Miller never reached the Major Leagues as a player. The highest level he attained was Class AAA, with Portland of the Pacific Coast League, Wichita of the American Association and Rochester of the International League from 1969–73. He became a full-time relief pitcher from 1970 season onwards. He finished his minor league career with a 60–65 win–loss record, a 3.50 earned run average (ERA), and 992 strikeouts over 1,012 innings pitched.

In his final season at Rochester, he was a player-coach, and then became minor league pitching instructor for the Red Wings' parent club, the Orioles, from 1974–77.

At the close of the 1977 season, Miller agreed to join the coaching staff of the Texas Rangers, whose manager was former Baltimore third-base coach Billy Hunter. But in January 1978, the Orioles' pitching coach position opened unexpectedly when George Bamberger was named skipper of the Milwaukee Brewers. Miller was let out of his Ranger contract and succeeded Bamberger as mound tutor of the pennant-contending Orioles. He worked under managers Earl Weaver and Joe Altobelli and coached for O's teams that won the 1979 American League championship and the 1983 world title. Miller tutored 20-game-winning pitchers such as Jim Palmer, Mike Boddicker, Mike Flanagan, Steve Stone, and Scott McGregor during that period. It was with the Orioles where he began famously instructing his pitchers to "work fast, change speeds, throw strikes."

The success of the Orioles' pitching staff made Miller a sought-after managerial candidate and on June 21, 1985, he received his first opportunity. Billy Gardner, who had led the Twins to a disappointing 27–35 record, was fired and Miller took control of the young Minnesota ballclub. Although the Twins improved to 50–50 over the remainder of the season, they performed so poorly (59–80, .424) in 1986, Miller was replaced as skipper by Tom Kelly on September 12.

Miller subsequently returned 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 returned as pitching coach of the Orioles in 2004–05, and the Baltimore mound staff showed improvement under his tutelage. However, he was forced to the sidelines by successful surgery to repair an aneurysm, and was succeeded in that role by Leo Mazzone in 2006.