Miller honored with lifetime achievement
His life will be celebrated during the Fourth Annual South Texas Winter Baseball Banquet Tuesday night. The event gets under way at 6:30 p.m. in the Bayview Ballroom at the American Bank Center.
Miller, who passed away in August at the age of 92, was perhaps most well known for his decades of coaching and mentoring in the Flax League, a Babe Ruth League based in Kenedy. His Flax All-Stars qualified for the Babe Ruth League World Series six times and in 1979 advanced to the national championship game in Newark, Ohio, against San Gabriel Valley of California. Nearly two dozen of his players went on to play in either the collegiate or professional ranks, including pitcher Jim Acker, who spent 10 years in the big leagues with the Blue Jays, Braves and Mariners.
Signed to his first pro contract in 1937, Miller made his Major League debut with the Washington Senators in 1943. Appearing in 24 games over the span of four seasons with the Senators, St. Louis Browns and Chicago Cubs, Miller posted a career record of 4-6 with one save and a 6.38 ERA. In 1945, "Ox" appeared in four games for the Browns and went 2-1 with three complete games and a 1.59 ERA.
Miller coached baseball at Three Rivers High School in 1947 and 1948 and played and managed for semi-professional teams in Victoria, Sinton and Laredo.
A graduate of George West High School, Miller was honored by his alma mater in 2004 when the Longhorns named their baseball facility John "Ox" Miller Field.
Opal Holleman Miller, his widow and wife of 67 years, will be on hand to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award on her husband's behalf.
For South Texas Winter Baseball Banquet ticket information, call the Corpus Christi Hooks at (361) 561-4665. Proceeds benefit the Hooks' Field of Dreams program.