Roscoe Miller

Greenville's Hometown Hero

Welcome to the largest online collection of Roscoe Miller photographs & documentation compiled by the Greenville Historic Preservation Commission. We hope you enjoy the story of Greenville's Hometown Hero.

Roscoe Clyde Miller was born in Greenville, Indiana on December 2, 1876. He emerged as one of the most durable early-1900s pitchers in the American League, built around a heavy workload and strong control of the strike zone. His early professional career began in 1896 before he reached the majors in 1901.

Roscoe’s rookie season in the majors came in 1901 with the Detroit Tigers in the team’s inaugural season in MLB. He went 23-13 with a 2.95 ERA, recorded three shutouts, and completed 35 games in his rookie season which is still a Detroit Tigers all-time record. He became the first Detroit Tigers pitch with 20 wins in a season. After that standout season, his effectiveness declined, though he remained a useful major-league arm through 1904 with the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates. However, it should be noted that Roscoe played for the Detroit Tigers during the 1900 season when they were still considered a minor league team. It was during the 1900 season that he earned the name “Rubberlegs” for his pitching delivery and his stamina on the mound. He posted a 19-9 record with four shutouts and 23 completed games. These stats are not calculated into Roscoe’s career stats since the Tigers were considered a minor league team at the time. In 1901, the American League moved from the minor leagues to Major League Baseball.

The source set also supports a longer post-MLB career than is sometimes remembered. After leaving the majors, Miller continued pitching in the minors through 1909, including a 1906 season with Des Moines in which he led the league with 28 wins and helped Des Moines to a championship pennant with a 97 - 50 record.

You can find the complete research report as prepared by the Greenville Historic Preservation Commission by clicking here or by scrolling to the Researches Documents section at the bottom of the page.

The Greenville Historic Preservation Commission would like to thank the Detroit Tigers, the San Francisco Giants, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Harrison County Public Library for all of their assistance compiling this project. Together, we've worked to compile the largest collection of Roscoe Miller pictures that is known to exist and published them for the everyone to enjoy on www.visitgreenvillein.com.