Former big league pitching coach and manager Ray Miller passed away on May 4th. No cause of death was released. He was 76.
Miller was a minor league pitcher in the San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians and Baltimore Orioles' organizations from 1964 to 1973. In 1974, Miller made the transition to coaching when he was named pitching coach of the Rochester Redwings - the Triple-AAA affiliate of the Orioles - for whom he had pitched from 1971-1973.
In 1978, Miller was to have finally reached the major leagues when he was named pitching coach of the Texas Rangers. However, when longtime Orioles pitching coach George Bamberger was named manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, Miller was offered the position and the Rangers permitted him to go to Baltimore.
Miller helped guide Mike Flanagan and Steve Stone to career seasons as they would win the AL Cy Young Award in 1979 and 1980, respectively. The O's would win the AL pennant in 1979 and the World Series in 1983.
Mid-way through the 1985 season, Miller was offered the opportunity to manage the Minnesota Twins succeeding Billy Gardner. However, he would be canned before the end of the 1986 season and replaced by Tom Kelly who would guide the team to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991.
As for Miller he would once again become a pitching coach this time for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Miller would serve under Jim Leyland in this capacity from 1987 to 1996 and was part of the three consecutive NL East division winners from 1990 to 1992. While with the Bucs, Miller would coach his third Cy Young winner - Doug Drabek in 1990.
In 1997, Miller would return Baltimore and once again serve as the Orioles pitching coach. The following season Miller would replace Davey Johnson as the O's manager and served in that role for two seasons before being replaced by Mike Hargrove. In parts of four seasons as a big league manager, Miller went 266-297.
Miller would become the Orioles' pitching coach for the third and final time during the 2004 and 2005 seasons but an aneurysm would end his coaching career.
In 2010, Miller was inducted into the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame. R.I.P.
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