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Norman Calvin Miller
Houston Astros
Outfield
Born: February 5, 1946, Los Angeles, CA
Signed: Signed by the Los Angeles Angels as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams: Houston Astros 1965-1973; Atlanta Braves 1973-1974
Norm Miller made his big league debut with the Astros at the age of 19 and played in parts of ten seasons before a back injury aided in prematurely ending his career. Miller split the 1966 through 1968 seasons with both the Astros and their top farm team in Oklahoma City. On April 15, 1968, he scored the winning run in the bottom of the 24th inning, giving the Astros a 1-0 win over the visiting Mets. Miller came up to the majors for good in 1969, appearing in a career-high 119 games, batting .264 with 50 RBIs.
He'd settle into a pinch-hitting role for most of the rest of his career, and was a career .232 pinch-hitter (35 for 151) with four home runs. Miller wrapped up his playing days with the Braves in 1974, serving almost exclusively as a left-handed pinch-hitter. In 540 games, Miller batted .238 with 24 home runs and 159 RBIs.
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 48th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing less than a dollar.
The Card / Astros Team Set / Accuracy Index +2
Here's a great article from SABR's Baseball Cards Research Committee with an explanation as to why Miller's Astros hat has been blacked out on this card. (In this case, read the comments.) In short, the Astros had demanded Topps not use its name or logo on any of its products. The Astros changed their policy in time for logos and the team name to appear on 1970 Topps cards. Miller wore #21 with the Astros between 1967 and 1973, and his uniform number is half visible on the back of his jersey. The cartoon on the back of the card highlights Miller scoring the game-winning run in the prior season's 24-inning marathon.
Accuracy Index: Miller's card earns a +5 for the Astros uniform, but then loses three points for the missing Astros logo on the hat.
1969 Season
Miller was the most regularly used right fielder for the Astros in 1969, usually sharing the outfield with Jesus Alou (#22) in left and Jim Wynn (#360) in center. He had 21 doubles and his 50 RBIs were tied for fifth most on the club.
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First Mainstream Card: 1967 Topps #412
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8): 1967-1974
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1974 Topps #439
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 33 in the Beckett online database as of 9/12/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
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