Justin Miller

Justin Mark Miller is a professional baseball player from the United States of America who specializes as a relief pitcher. Miller was a baseball star right from high school into college and it was no surprise when he signed for the MLB after just 3 years of college. After playing for the Torrance Tartars in high school, Miller went on to the Los Angeles Harbour College following which he made his way into the 1997 MLB Amateur Draft and got picked by the Colorado Rockies in the 5th round.

Miller began his playing career with the Portland Rockies in the Low A-League before moving up to the A-League and the Asheville Tourists in 1998. A 13-8 record with the Tourists was good enough for a promotion to the AAA-League to play with the Salem Avalanche. Miller’s association with the Rockies ended here as he was traded to the Oakland Athletics in 2000.

At Oakland, Miller began his career with the Midland RockHounds in the AA-League. A 5-4 record, 4.55 ERA and 18 games later, he was pushed up to the AAA-League to play for the Sacramento River Cats. Miller started all 9 games he played and in 54.2 innings, had an ERA of 2.47 with 34 strikeouts and a 4-1 record.

The following year, the Athletics decided to give him a run out in the AAA-League for an entire season to check his mettle. Miller faltered, but only by a bit. He pitched 165 innings in 29 games and had an ERA of 4.75. An incredible 134 strikeouts did speak a lot for his case and at the end of the season, he was traded out to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Miller started 2002 with the Syracuse SkyChiefs in the AAA-League. After just 8 games, he was called up to the MLB roster to play for the Toronto Raptors. However his run in the MLB went “okay”, as he ended up pitching 102.1 innings at an ERA of 5.54 with a 9-5 record. An injury struck Miller failed to make the most of his time in the MLB and in 2003, just played one game in the Advanced A-League, in a bid to come back from his injury. In 2004, he returned to the Syracuse SkyChiefs and then made his way back into the MLB roster.

His second stint wasn’t as productive as the first and Miller ended up with an ERA of 6.06 in 81.2 innings pitched. The following year, Miller again began the season at Syracuse, making his way up with a 2.32 ERA over 28 games. Miller’s starts just fell to 5 and he pitched only 50-odd innings in that season, mostly owing to injury recurrence issues.

He was called up to the Toronto Blue Jays again but in his one game for that season, he pitched just 2.1 innings, giving away 5 home runs and 4 Earned Runs before being pulled off. That was to be the last bit of action for Miller in a Blue Jays jersey.

In 2006, Miller was traded out to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and he started with the Durham Bulls in the AAA-League. Just 5 games later, he moved to Japan to play for the Chiba Lotte Mariners till the end of the season. Miller barely played any games, almost wasting his 2006 season on the bench. He returned to the USA in 2007, joining the Philadelphia Phillies in the AAA-League. Playing for the Ottawa Lynx, Miller showed up in 3 games and was then traded out to the Florida Marlins.

Miller played for the Albuquerque Isotopes in the AAA-League and after 11 games and a 1.50 ERA, he was moved up to the MLB roster of the Florida Marlins. Miller was a regular in the Marlins lineup for the rest of the season, playing 62 games and pitching 61.2 innings at an ERA of 3.65. He notched up a 5-0 win-loss record but injury cut his run short again.

Miller was forced to start 2008 with the Gulf Coast Marlins in the Rookie League before moving up through the ladder and playing for the Marlins again, for 46 games, at the end of the season. A 4-2 record in the season caught the attention of the San Francisco Giants who picked him up for 2009, giving Miller 44 games as part of their rotation. Miller pitched at a wonderful 3.18 ERA and ended with a 3-3 record from 56.2 innings.

At the end of 2009, Miller was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers on a minor league contract, but with an invite for Spring Training.

A rule in the MLB, sometimes referred to as the “Justin Miller Rule” was created after batters complained of distractions caused by the tattoos on Miller’s arm. The rule was created to ensure that Miller, and all others after him, wear a long sleeved shirt under their jerseys to avoid such distractions.