Reposted From UDM Press Release
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.