Stuart Leonard Miller (December 26, 1927 – January 4, 2015), nicknamed The Butterfly Man, was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1952–56), Philadelphia Phillies (1956), New York/San Francisco Giants (1957–62), Baltimore Orioles (1963–67) and Atlanta Braves (1968). He batted and threw right-handed. In a 16-season career, Miller posted a 105–103 record with a 3.24 earned run average, 1164 , and 154 saves in 704 games pitched (93 as a starting pitcher).
He began the 1952 season with the Triple-A Columbus Red Birds, going 11–5, with a 2.34 ERA, throwing four shutouts in 13 Starting pitcher.
He spent all of 1955 with the Cardinals new Triple-A affiliate the Omaha Cardinals, going 17–14 with a 3.02 ERA as a starter. Miller pitched in only three games for the Cardinals in 1956, when he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in early May with Harvey Haddix and Ben Flowers for Murry Dickson and Herm Wehmeier.
In 1958, with the Giants now in San Francisco, Miller started 20 of 41 games he appeared in, with a 6–9 record and 2.47 ERA. His ERA led the National League. In 1959, he appeared in 50 games as a relief pitcher, with only 9 starts, with a 8–7 record, eight saves and 2.84 ERA. In 1960 he started only three of 47 games in which he appeared, which would be the last starts of his career.
At age 33 in 1961, Miller was now solely a relief pitcher. He had a 14–5 record, with a 2.66 ERA and 17 saves. His 17 saves tied Roy Face for the National League lead. Miller was named an All-Star for the Giants in 1961, and played in both All-Star games that year. He was the winning pitcher in the July 11 All-Star game, defeating Hall of Fame reliever Hoyt Wilhelm. He pitched the final three innings of the July 31 All-Star game, with five strikeouts, the game ending in a tie. Manager Alvin Dark thought Miller's 1961 season was the best of any relief pitcher who ever played for Dark. "It got so the starters would work seven innings and look to the bullpen expecting to see him running in."
Kaline later scored on an error by Ken Boyer on Rocky Colavito's ground ball, which tied the score at 3–3. One batter later, the wind caused catcher Smoky Burgess to drop Tony Kubek's foul pop-up for an error. Miller bailed Burgess out by striking out Kubek, and after Yogi Berra reached base on Don Zimmer's error, Miller got Hoyt Wilhelm to fly out to left to end the inning. In the top of the 10th inning, the defense behind Miller almost did him in; Nellie Fox walked and scored all the way from first on Boyer's three-base throwing error (the second by Boyer in as many innings) on Kaline's ground ball. Miller's teammates bailed him out in the bottom of the inning and made him the winning pitcher; Hank Aaron singled and scored on a double by Miller's Giant teammate Willie Mays to tie the score, then Mays scored the winning run on Roberto Clemente's single.
In 1962, although the Giants went to the World Series, Miller had his highest ERA since 1956, posting a 4.12 mark in 59 games (107 innings pitched), going 5–8 with 19 saves. He pitched in two games in the World Series, going 1.1 innings with one hit, two bases on balls and no runs allowed. Thinking he was washed up, the Giants traded him along with John Orsino and Mike McCormick to the Baltimore Orioles for Jack Fisher, Billy Hoeft and Jimmie Coker on December 15, 1962. "Giants, Orioles Exchange Hurlers in Six-Man Deal," United Press International (UPI), Saturday, December 15, 1962. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
In 1964, the Orioles were in a pennant race with the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox, ultimately finishing 97–65, two games behind the pennant winning Yankees. Miller pitched 66 games in relief (5th in the AL) with 22 saves (3rd in the league) and a 3.06 ERA. Miller finished seventh in MVP voting in 1965, a year in which he had a 14–7 record and 24 saves (tied for 2nd in the AL) in 67 appearances (5th in the AL). His 1.89 ERA that season was the Orioles record for pitchers who worked at least 100 innings in a season until it was surpassed by Trevor Rogers' 1.81 in 2025. Rill, Jake. "Rogers rolls into O's record books in remarkable comeback year," MLB.com, Friday 26 September 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
In 1966, the 38-year-old Miller was a key pitcher for the world champion Orioles. He pitched in relief in 51 games, with a 9-4 record, 18 saves, and a 2.25 ERA over 92 innings. Miller did not appear in the World Series, a 4–0 Orioles sweep, as their starting pitchers completed Games 2-4, and Moe Drabowsky was the only reliever needed in Game 1.
On April 30, 1967, Steve Barber and Miller combined to pitch a no-hitter for the Orioles against the Detroit Tigers, but would lose 2–1. Miller entered after Barber, who walked ten batters, gave up the tying run on a wild pitch with two outs. A ground ball to shortstop Luis Aparicio should have ended it for Miller, but when Aparicio threw the ball to second baseman Mark Belanger, Belanger misplayed it, his error allowing the winning run to score. Ironically, Belanger, who went on to replace Aparicio as the Orioles' shortstop, is considered one of baseball's greatest defensive players with the second highest Defensive WAR (wins above replacement) of any player in baseball history.
On May 14, 1967, he gave up Mickey Mantle's 500th career home run.
Hall of Fame Oriole pitcher Jim Palmer credited Miller for helping him become a better pitcher. "I learned from guys like Stu Miller. I sat out in the bullpen with him when I was nineteen and watched and listened. It was like graduate school."
His fastball only topped out in the 80-mph range, but Miller relied on a deceptive delivery to get batters out. "He was the epitome of an off-speed pitcher, but he could get people out," teammate Eddie Watt said of Miller. "He had just tremendous deception and no fear at all." According to Miller, a catcher told him he could catch his pitches with pliers. "Really, my fastball was in the mid-80s, at most, and the changeup was a good 8 mph less. But both pitches looked the same, which was the secret to my deception," Miller said.
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