Remembering Aaron Miller

It is strange how the mind works. Yesterday, while doing some harvesting in our garden, I was thinking a bit about baseball and how much I miss minor league baseball.  Several things ran through my mind such as the conversations AC and I had during the Loons championship year in 2016, the personal relationship I had with then Loons play-by-play announcer Chris Vosters, several players in the Dodgers minor league system including Zach McKinstry and without warning Aaron Miller came across my screen. His is a story like so many minor league players who are fine young men following the near impossible dream.

He had initially been selected by the Colorado Rockies in 2006 out of Channelview High School in Channelview, Texas. Rather than sign with the Rockies he wanted the, “college experience before turning professional”, and committed to Baylor University in Waco, Texas. During his minor league career he remained in contact with Baylor head coach Steve Smith.  Perhaps he still does.

“Aaron was an extremely gifted player physically. He was just a physically powerful young man both on the mound and at the plate,” Smith recalled. “As a man of faith, Aaron was one of few words. But his actions spoke volumes as he dealt with the injuries, disappointments, and pressures of major college athletics. There was no panic in Aaron, which I believe was a testimony to his faith in the Lord.”

Miller noted his coaches at Baylor “really cared about us as much as people as they did as players.” In Waco, he attended University Baptist Church and was involved in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and a campus Bible study.

“The biggest gift is somebody spending time with you. Your biggest luxury in life is the amount of time you have. Anybody who spends extra time to do something for me, really means a lot.”

For Miller, athletics were simply part of his university experience. Exactly a week after receiving All-Big 12 honors from the league’s coaches, he became the seventh student-athlete in Baylor baseball history to earn Academic All-America honors. A management and entrepreneurship major, he followed in the footsteps of those six other student-athletes including left-hander Pat Combs who pitched four years with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Considered to be a two-way power player Miller was selected by the Dodgers in the 2009 First Year Payer Draft with the 34th overall pick, a compensation pick for losing free-agent pitcher Derek Lowe to the Atlanta Braves. In his junior year on the mound with the Baylor Bears he went 3-3 with a 5.12 ERA in 13 games, with 65 strikeouts in 51 innings. His fastball sat in the low 90’s – touching 95 – and he had a slider that was developing into a plus pitch. As a hitter, he batted .310 with 12 homers and 47 RBI in 186 at-bats.

The Dodgers had to decide whether to draft the 6’3” 205 lb. prospect as a pitcher or a hitter. The decision was made to select the 21-year old left-handed Miller as a pitcher. Logan White, the Dodgers Assistant General Manager for Scouting at that time was impressed by his athleticism and decided to go the pitching route.

 “Aaron Miller is certainly a big league prospect as a hitter and a player.” said White, “He hasn’t been able to focus on pitching all the time, though, and in our professional judgment we think he’s certainly got the best future to be a left-handed pitcher.”

Miller, a friend of Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw from their Texas high-school days, had worked out for the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium and indicated he would sign quickly because he wanted to “get innings under my belt.” Upon learning he was drafted by the Dodgers Miller said:

 “I couldn’t be more ecstatic. I was kind of crossing my fingers. I came home from L.A. yesterday and was really hoping that I would get picked up.”

After pitching 5.2 innings with the Arizona League Dodgers Miller reported to the Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest Class A League. He experienced immediate success with the Loons pitching 30.1 innings in seven starts. He struck out 38 and posted an ERA of 2.08 and a WHIP of 1.055.

In 2010 he moved up to the Advanced-A Inland Empire 66ers and had another successful season. In 17 starts he pitched 101.2 innings with an ERA of 2.92 and a WHIP of 1.220. He struck out 99 and gave up only 76 hits.

Miller was limited to 34 innings in 2011 with the Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League posting an ERA of 3.97.

The following season he advanced to the AA-Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League. He pitched a career high 121.1 innings in 25 starts. Although he struck out 110, he walked 71 and finished the season with an ERA of 4.45. That was to be his last season as a pitcher.

In 2013 he began his career as a right fielder with the Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League.

“This was something the organization has been talking about for close to a year,” said former Vice President for Player Development De Jon Watson. “His velocity had dropped, and he’s had some nagging injuries.

“He was a two-way player coming out of Baylor when we drafted him, and we liked what we saw in his bat when he pitched. We felt this was the right time to make the switch, given his age and his desire to continue pursuing his big league dream and help this organization.”

With the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes in 2014 Aaron Miller had a good offensive year hitting .257 with 14 home runs and 60 RBI. He took home the California League Offensive Player of the Week honors for the week ending Sunday, June 8 going 11-for-27 in seven games for the Quakes, hitting .407/.467/.852 with three home runs and three doubles during the week, with 10 RBI.

Following the regular season Miller traveled to Australia to play with the Adelaide Bite of the Australian Baseball League. In 36 games with the Bite he had 12 home runs and 33 RBI while hitting .389, all tops in the league. He was also the league leader in OBP, SLG and OPS. His 37 runs and 57 hits were both second in the league behind only Brandon Dickson his 2014 teammate from the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

For his play in Australia Miller was recognized with the Sambat Champion Slugger of the Year Award and also the Helms Award as the League MVP. He was back in the United States when the awards were presented, and he accepted both of them humbly via email video.

On March 22, 2015 came the announcement that the then 27-year old Miller had retired. In his video feed to his Australian teammates he expressed appreciation for his new found life time friends and thanked God for the opportunity to have “played this amazing game”.

I don’t know what Aaron Miller and his wife who accompanied him to Australia are doing now but I do know this young man who has learned so much from baseball – which is a hard teacher – will achieve success at whatever he does.

“I always have that driving force to keep moving forward. I want my talent and my ability to take me wherever it goes,” he said. “I want to be satisfied with whatever I am able to do and at the end of the day, walk away and say I did my best.”

Well done Aaron and thanks for being a positive example with your hard work and dedication for so many young players who are facing the same challenges in this “amazing game.”