Roy Oscar
"Doc" Miller was born in Chatham on February 4,
1883, attended public school here and graduated from
Chatham Collegiate. He received a B.A. from the
University of Toronto in 1907 and an M.B. (medical degree)
from the same university in 1911. While attending school,
he made a name for himself in baseball as a pitcher, an
outfielder, and a shortstop, playing for semi-professional
teams in Western Ontario. He went on to play major
league baseball in the National League, becoming very
proficient as a hitter. He ended his 5-year career
as a premier pinch hitter.
After retiring from baseball, he practiced medicine in
New York City, becoming a specialist in skin diseases and
cancer. He died in Jersey City, New Jersey on July
31, 1938 from an apparent suicide due to being depressed
about his wife's death 2 years previous to that.
- 1903-1909
- Played in the professional minor leagues with
Manchester in the New England League (1903),
Syracuse and Binghampton in New York State League
(1905), Calumet and Fargo in the Northern-Copper
Country League (1906), Pueblo in the Western
League (1908), and San Francisco and Pueblo in the
Pacific Coast league (1909). Career Minor League
Statistics - games 352, at bats 1254, hits 380,
average .303
- 1910
- Began his major league career
with Chicago in the National League where he played only
one game before being traded to Boston, the same
league where he played in 130 games with a combined
batting average of 286.
- 1911
- While still with Boston "Doc" played
in 146 games and led the league with 192 hits while
batting .333 which was second , by 1 percentage point, to
Honus Wagner who led the league; also tied for lead in
singles with 146, was second in doubles with 36,
was fourth in at bats with 577, sixth in RBI's
with 91, and was sixth in total bases with 255.
- 1912
- Played a total of 118 games, 51 with Boston
and 67 with Philadelphia of the National League, and
batted .259.
- 1913
- By 1913, he was used primarily as a
pinch hitter and was considered one of the best. For
Philadelphia, he played in 69 games and batted .345 with
30 hits in 87 at bats.
- 1914
- "Doc" was traded to Cincinnati of
the National League where he played his last major league
season. He played in 93 games with 192 at bats and hit
.255. In his 5 year major league career,
- Career Totals
- Chatham native Roy (Doc) Miller was named
yesterday to this year's class of inductees for
the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. The former
major-league outfielder, who died in 1938 at age
55, will be inducted into the St. Marys' Shrine.
Miller played 557 games in the major leagues from
1910 to 1914. He finished with 12 home runs, 235
RBIs and a .295 batting average. He spent his
entire five-season career in the National League
as an outfielder with Chicago, Boston,
Philadelphia and Cincinnati. His .333 batting
average in 1911 was only .001 behind National
League leader Honus Wagner.
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Position: Batter 