H A L L   O F   F A M E   C A N D I D A T E S

Stu Miller
Pitcher, Washington Monuments · 1952-1962

Northampton, Massachussetts native Stu Miller burst on the scene in 1952,  taking the 94-60 Washington Monuments to their first championship.  Throwing over 300 innings, winning 16 games, he struck out 237 and started 37 games with a 2.74 ERA.  Most impressively of all, Miller completed 20 games and threw eight shutouts.  Even in those early days, his Achilles heel -- the base-on-balls -- was evident, as he walked 111 (Miller is the UL leader in walks allowed, with 1,293).  Yet there was no doubting his promise: Miller walked away with the first ever Rookie of the Year.

The golden period had begun.  Between Opening Day 1953 and June '55, Stu went 61-19 with an ERA of 2.35, pitching 782 innings in 95 starts.  More importantly, perhaps, the Monuments finished '53 and '54  97-57 and 100-54 respectively, winning the championship each year.   1953 also brought Stu his only Cy Young, and he was named to the All-UL Team.

June 25, 1955 was a turning point for Miller, however, as he ruptured a disc in his back, ending his season.   When he returned in 1956, the Monuments' last championship year, he was still a very good pitcher, but perhaps not a great one.  Gone were the days of ERAs in the low 2s - instead came four good years of ERAs between 3.14 and 3.55 between 1956 and 1960.  Yet it was not all good news: 1959 brought a 4.09 ERA, 20 losses and the decline of Washington from powerhouse to cellar-dwellers who finished 65-89.   1961 was even worse, 26 losses, a 5.54 ERA and almost 200 walks, as the Monuments finished last again.  1962 was something of a return to form, as he put up his best walks ratio since 1958 and kept his ERA to a more respectable 4.45, but August brought a ruptured tricep tendon which ended his season prematurely.  One last bit of silverware for Stu: a richly deserved Gold Glove came his way.

At the end of 1962, a rebuilding Monuments franchise released Miller.   Signed as a free agent by the Boston Federals, he led the Philadelphia Keystones, their Triple-A affiliate, to the Governor's Cup Series, then retired.

It is somewhat fitting, however, that Miller played his entire UL career with the Monuments, where Miller suffered his greatest triumphs and harshest setbacks.   His fortunes intertwined with those of the Washington ballclub: he and they peaked and troughed as one.  It is tempting to imagine Miller to have been dominant from beginning to end, but in truth his career was split into three chunks, four years of dominance (2.46 ERA) , five years of very good pitching (3.52 ERA), and then two years of struggles (5.10 ERA).  Yet for those first three-and-a-half seasons, Miller was the best pitcher on the planet.  (Doug Aiton)