On this day in 1969 Damian Donald Miller was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He went to college at Viterbo (he's the only major leaguer who can say that) before the Twins selected him in the 20th round (544th overall pick) in the 1990 draft.
Miller was already 27 by the time he made his major league debut in 1997, but he still managed to scratch out a pretty nice major league career. Playing almost exclusively behind the plate he appeared in 989 games over eleven major league seasons as a member of five teams.
The last of those teams was, of course, the Milwaukee Brewers. They signed him as a free agent before the 2005 season and he spent three years back in his home state, hitting .257/.324/.391 with 19 home runs in 273 games. He retired following the 2007 season.
Miller turns 43 today. With help from the B-Ref Play Index, we'd also like to wish a happy birthday to:
- 2009-10 Brewer Trevor Hoffman, who turns 45.
- 1990 Brewer Mike Caple, who turns 51.
- 1983-84 Brewer Andy Beene, who turns 56.
- Hall of Famer and 1953-65 Milwaukee Brave Eddie Mathews, who would have turned 81. We covered his birthday in this space last year.
- Muscoda, Wisconsin native and UW-Madison alum Bob Allen, who would have turned 118. Allen was a member of the 1919 Philadelphia Athletics.