Meet Your Hall of Famer: Donald Miles

Bio:   Donald Miles was born in Ridgway, CO (Pop. 924 located in the middle of the state in Western Colorado). Miles played his youth baseball in the Colorado Baseball Academy.  The highlight of playing at the Academy was throwing a no-hitter in the championship game of the Colorado Classic held in Denver.  A 96-team tournament with teams from all over the country.  He also led the high school basketball team to a playoff appearance.

Draft: Was the 1st pick in Season 33 by Kansas City (nacholibre).   Signed for $6.2 Million.

Scout Max Ligtenberg- “Great presence on the mound. He is a winner.  A few small adjustments to his mechanics could lead to great control.  His sinker, slider and curveball are above average pitches. And he pitches well to left handers.”

Manager (dfdarby): “Donald Miles was a true workhorse who could be counted on for 33 to 38 starts a season on his way to 761 career starts. He won 15 or more games in 11 straight seasons, including his 22-3 Cy Young campaign in Season 46.  He followed that with a no-hitter on Opening Day of Season 47 and compiled a season-best 1.06 WHIP.  And he stuck with our nomadic organization for 22 years as we moved from Philadelphia, to Detroit, Chicago, Montreal, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Sioux Falls, Toledo, and finally Chicago again.  A true Hall of Famer who finished with exactly 100 more wins than losses (326-226), he probably could have won 400 had we traded him to a perennial contender.

Career Earnings: $159,350,000

Career: Donald Miles was the 1^st pick in Season 33 by Kansas City and played his entire professional baseball career in that organization (8 different Cities).  He made his Major League debut in Season 35.  During his career, he won the Cy Young Award in Season 46 and was a 10-time All-Star.  He also threw a No-Hitter on opening day in Season 47. Although he won the Cy Young in Season 46, Season 49 was his best season.  In that year he had 18 wins to 4 loses, 251.1 IN, 176 K’s, .208 OVA, 1.07 WHIP, and 2.40 ERA.  Over his career he won 326 games, threw 5265.1 IN, 3624 K’s, .245 OVA, 1.27 WHIP, and 3.52 ERA.  He holds 2 Career World Records for Innings Pitched at 5265.1 and Quality Starts 492!  He also holds single season records for the current Cincinnati Franchise in OVA .208 (47), ERA 2.40 (49) IN 277.7 (43), Shut outs 4 (47), K’s 223 (40), WHIP 1.06 (47) and Wins 22 (46).  As well as Career marks for Cincinnati in OVA .245, CG 65, ERA 3.52, IN 5263.3, Shutouts 21, K’s 3624, WHIP 1.27, and Wins 326.

Speech Highlight- “All I ever wanted to do is win baseball games.  I felt I owed it to the fans to be on the mound every time it was my turn to pitch.  I was lucky enough to be able to do that with one organization my entire career.  I want to thank the Cincinnati organization for allowing me the opportunity to do that."