Born in
Vinton, Iowa, Miller debuted in the major leagues on April 16,
1921, at the age of 26 with the
Washington Senators, but in
1922 Miller was traded to the
Philadelphia Athletics. In
1929, he hit for a .331 batting average with 93 runs batted in and a career-high .380
on-base percentage to help the Athletics win their first American League pennant in 15 years by 18 games over the vaunted
New York Yankees of
Babe Ruth and
Lou Gehrig. In
1930 Miller hit for a .303 batting average with 9 home runs and a career-high 100 runs batted in as the Athletics repeated as American League champions and defeated the
St. Louis Cardinals in the
1930 World Series. The Athletics won their third consecutive American League championship in
1931 but, were defeated by the
Pepper Martin-led St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. Miller's offensive output began to diminish at the same time that owner
Connie Mack began to dismantle the team. The
Great Depression was well under way, and declining attendance had drastically reduced the Athletic's revenues. Mack sold or traded his best players in order to reduce expenses and, by
1934 the team had fallen to fifth place. On January 14, 1935, Miller was released by the Athletics and the following day signed as a free agent with the Boston Red Sox. He played in his final Major League game on September 5, 1936 at the age of 42. He was released by the Red Sox on September 27, 1936. ==Career statistics==