DETROIT (11/28/2020) -- The University of Detroit Mercy Department of Athletics is in deep mourning as it learned that former player, longtime baseball coach and former major league baseball player Bob Miller passed away on Saturday night due to natural causes.  

Coach Miller was 94 years old. 

After serving four years in the military after an outstanding prep career, he pitched two seasons for the Titans from 1947-48 before signing with the Philadelphia Phillies. As a freshman, he was 3-2 with a 2.34 ERA and then collected another three wins as a sophomore. 

After his professional days were over, he came back to his alma mater as an assistant coach in 1963 before taking the reins in 1965 following the tragic auto accident that took the life of head coach Lloyd Brazil, his college coach. That turned into 36 years of greatness as he guided his alma mater from 1965 to 2001 recording an 896-780-2 mark, top 30 in NCAA history when he retired and still the most by any coach in the state of Michigan. 

The Titans tallied winning seasons in 25 of his 36 years - including reaching 30 victories nine times with a school-record 36 victories in 1975 - reaching the NCAA Tournament in 1965 and claiming its first-ever MCC baseball championship in 1997. 

During his time, 16 Titans were drafted by the MLB, including his son Pat in 1990, while over 40 other players signed professional contracts. Two of the players he coached made the major league in Pete Craig (1966) and Dick Drago (1969). 

He signed with Philadelphia in 1948 and enjoyed a 10-year career with the Phillies, appearing in 261 games, starting 69, and going 42–42 with 15 saves and a 3.96 ERA. 

In two years in the minors, he was 6-5 with the Terre Haute Phillies of the Class-B Three I League in 1948 before dominating the 1949 season, earning the MVP after going 19-9 with a 2.72 ERA and striking out 207 in 255 innings. 

That sparked a call to the majors at the end of the 1949 season, where he pitched in three games, not allowing a run in 2 2/3 innings. At the age of 23, he made his MLB debut on September 16, 1949, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati throwing a scoreless eighth in a 2-1 loss. 

In 1950, he was a member of the Phillies' "Whiz Kids" that won the National League pennant as he went 11-6 and a save, throwing seven complete games and two shutouts and ending the season with a 3.57 ERA in 190.0 innings. He was second for the Rookie of the Year award behind Sam Jethroe of the Boston Braves. He was used primarily as a starter appearing in 25 games with 22 starts.

He won his first game on Apr. 29, 1950, tossing a complete game in a 2-1 win at home over the Boston Braves, scattering six hits and striking out seven. Miller would start out with an 8-0 record as a rookie in 1950 and at one point had thrown 22 2/3 straight scoreless innings. He would also start game four of the world series that year against the New York Yankees. 

Miller was part of two historic moments in the 1953 season. First, he was the reliever who came into the game to for Philadelphia ace Robin Roberts, who was on his way to a major-league record 29 consecutive complete-game starts when he ran into trouble in the eighth against the Dodgers. Against the Cubs, he tossed a 7-0 complete game shutout giving up just six hits, but he was also 4-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and a RBI, making him the only pitcher in baseball history to throw a shutout and get four hits in the same game at Wrigley Field.

 

Miller was a three-sport star in high school, playing baseball, football and basketball at St. Mary's in Redford, Michigan, and actually earned a basketball scholarship to the University before pursuing baseball when he came back from the war. 

Miller has been inducted into a number of Hall of Fames in the Titan Hall Of Fame (1979), Michigan Sports Hall of Fame (1999) and the Michigan Baseball Hall Of Fame (2020). In 2011, he received the John Conti Letterman of Distinction Award, presented to former Titan varsity athletes who go above and beyond at work and in the community. 

Final arrangements are being made for family only, but a celebration of his life will be announced in the future. 

In remembrance of coach Miller

"I was deeply hit when I heard the news of coach Miller passing. He was an icon here for so many years and touched so many players. I hear stories all the time of how much he meant to this University and how much he loved U-D. I have had the chance to talk to him and his kids since I have been here and something that always comes across is the love and pride for the University that the Miller family has. He will truly be missed by everyone." - Robert C. Vowels, Jr., Detroit Mercy Director of Athletics

"The biggest thing was that I was a walk-on and he kept me on the team for a few years before I worked my way into the line-up. I was grateful that he kept me on the team and was fortunate that I was able to play and then get an invite to the Tigers in Lakeland (Florida). That was because he gave me that chance and saw something in me to keep me on the team. After I graduated, I realized how much time and money he put into the program all those years. He loved the program and he loved U-D. - Tom Berti, former player from 1972-76

"Coach Miller was a larger-than-life person to generations of Titan baseball players. He was the man that was watching from behind a distant fence at a remote ballpark on a hot and dusty summer evening, and when he saw a Titan, he knew it. Decades later, he could make a former player beam with pride by recalling that moment, 'I remember the first time I saw you swing that bat; he would say, and bring alive a detail of a ringing double in Redford or Livonia or East Detroit - and how he wouldn't leave your driveway that night until you told him you would be part of his team. He knew baseball before it could be measured. He loved the game and could feel it in his blood when it was time to squeeze a run in or when a struggling freshman needed a word of confidence. Coach also cherished his players and the University. He made teammates of us, linking generations, and captured an unforgettable era. He earned this legacy. But perhaps the thing I'll remember coach most for is how his children looked up to him and how proud he was of them. You could see it in their eyes and hear it in his unforgettable voice. I know I speak for all Titans in expressing our love and condolences to his family upon the loss of this legendary man." - Chris Czarnik, former player from 1984-88 who later was an assistant coach under him and took over as head coach when he retired in 2000

"I don't know what to say, this is so saddening. We use to drive cars to our games and my first year, we rode a lot with coach Miller and he was such a funny guy and a prankster. I will always remember how lively he was and he loved the school, he loved U-D. One day, I remember in practice, he was pitching to us and he said the way he was feeling right now, he was probably in his late 30's, that he hoped he didn't give up baseball too soon. He loved the game." - Donald Deptula, former player from 1963-66

"I owe a lot because of him, he was such a great coach and a great person. The way he and his wife made sandwiches when we were going on the road, it was about family. You realized what he put into that program and deserves all the credit he gets. He gave me the opportunity to walk-on and start at shortstop and he gave me a lot of confidence. When I coming out of high school, I wasn't going to college, but he gave me an opportunity and it was all because of him. He knew the game, loved the game and he made everything fun. In 1975, we won 36 games and should have got into the playoffs, but that was one of the best teams I have ever played on beating Eastern Michigan and Michigan State." - Ken Hamann, former player from 1972-76

"He gave me a great chance to play college baseball. He was a great guy and he probably had as much fun as any of the guys playing. I remember the day he came over to my house to recruit me and he walked in and it was like my uncle walking in. Here is Bob Miller, great coach, great pitcher and part of the Whiz Kids and he was part of the family and he the program a family. It was an easy sell." - Mike Lopiccolo, former player from 1981-85 

"Coach was a father figure to all of us. He didn't just teach us about baseball, he taught us about life and how to set ourselves up for success and preparation and living for the moment. More importantly and more than anything was just teaching us to be good men. I remember coach always being proud of the University and being proud of the field that he took care of so well. One of my fondest memories is seeing him on that John Deere tractor on the field, cutting the grass and make sure we had the best playing field possible for a small Division one college." - Jason Novetsky, former player from 1989-93

"This was just devastating. He was a great, great guy, a great coach and mentor and he meant everything to me. That booming voice, the presence he had whenever he walked in a room. He had that personality that everyone loved. He was good to everyone and it's quite a loss. He was everything to me, he gave me my chance, believed in me and gave me confidence and I will always be grateful for that. If you can live a life like him, that's the way to do it. He was a great family man, great baseball guy and couldn't ask for a better coach." - Mike Polvi, former player from 1974-78

"Playing for coach Miller was a huge honor. He took great care of us and treated every player equally and gave us a chance to play at Detroit Mercy and in Division one. Some of the stories he told us were incredible, just all the great memories he had with the game. Every time you came to the field, he had a new story for you,. Just a great memory he had with everyone he played with. He loved every ballplayer that put a U-D uniform on." - Lawrence Scheffer, former player from 1991-95