A tale of 2 Bob Millers

[frankhardy]

As you may or may not know, a big part of my collection is Cardinals autographs on regular Topps cards. I have two 3 inch albums slammed full. My latest count has me at 1,519 different Cardinals autographs on regular Topps cards with more to be added shortly.

When it comes to a 1959, 1960, and 1961 Topps Bob Miller card with autographs, things get complicated real quickly.

For starters, did you know that there were 3 Bob Millers playing in the majors in the 1950's? Even though the youngest Cardinals Bob Miller and the Tiger's Bob Miller did not overlap due to the latter Miller's military service, it still makes things a bit confusing. But to make matters very confusing for me as a Cardinals autograph collector, 2 of those Bob Millers were affiliated with the Cardinals. To make things a little easier to grasp, the Tiger's Bob Miller exits stage right and will not be heard from again in this post.

Bob Miller (born 1926; died 2020) played for the Phillies from 1949 to 1958. He is pictured on a 1959 Topps card with the Cardinals after being sold to the Cardinals. The Bob Miller pictured from the 1960 and 1961 Topps cards was born in 1939 and died in 1993. The following is from sabr.org.

In February 1958, Miller (b. 1926; d. 2020) and his family narrowly escaped serious injury when they were involved in a three-car accident while driving to spring training in Clearwater. Once the season started, Miller never got on track, possibly due to lingering effects from his broken wrist. On August 12, with a 1-1 record in 17 games, he was assigned to the Triple-A Miami Marlins, where he pitched in only three games.

In what turned out to be his final season in professional baseball, Miller was sold to the St Louis Cardinals in February of 1959 on a conditional basis. Former teammate Solly Hemus, then with the Cardinals, suggested to general manager Bing Devine that he should give the veteran moundsman a trial. But after a few weeks in spring training, the Cardinals sent him back to the Phillies, who optioned him to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. After appearing in eight games he was released. Signing with the Montreal Royals, he pitched in six games, then was released on July 1, and retired from Organized Baseball. Miller’s career major-league pitching mark was 42-42 with a 3.96 earned-run average and 15 saves.

This is the reason he is pictured on a 1959 Topps card as a Cardinals player (although airburshed), even though he never played for the Cardinals.

Bob Miller (born 1939 and died 1993) played for the Cardinals from 1957 - 1961 and is pictured on 1960 and 1961 Topps cards. So.... you have a 1959 Topps Bob Miller that is a different Bob Miller than the 1960 and 1961 Topps Bob MIller.

Since that is so confusing and complicated, I researched to make sure that the Bob Miller born in 1926 didn't sign the 1961 Topps card of the Bob MIller that was born in 1939, especially since the 1939 Miller died in 1993.

At first, back in 2019, I thought I had the correct 1961. After I acquired it, I did more research and discovered that I did not have the correct version. The 1961 card that I posted was signed by Mr Miller (b. 1926; d. 2020) and not by the pictured Mr Miller (b. 1939; d. 1993). The two Mr Millers kind of even look alike. One could see how easy it would be to not realize the mix-up. Not only do they kind of look alike, but their signatures are very similar. But I have figured out how to tell the difference.

I am going to post signatures below to illustrate the difference.

First of all, here is the wrong signature on the 1961 card.



Here is the correct signature on the 1961 card.



The first thing you might notice is the size difference. However, that is not the telltale sign because his signature on his 1959 card is much bigger, as seen below.



In the above picture, you have a correct 1959 and a correct 1960. The 1959 player is the one born in 1926 (d. 2020) and the 1960 player was born in 1939 (d. 1993).

Below those 2 cards you have an incorrect 1961 on the left and a correct 1961 on the right.

There are a couple of telltale signs. First of all with the 1960 and correct 1961 autographs, the "e" and "r" in Miller are rushed and not defined. With the 1959 and the incorrect 1961, the "e" and the "r" are very defined. Notice the slant on the "M" in Miller are identical in the 1959 and the incorrect 1961.

There are 2 more telltale signs. The dot above the "i" in Miller are circles on the 1960 and the correct 1961, while dots in the 1959 and the incorrect 1961. Another sign is in the 1960 and the correct 1961, the last "b" in Bob and the "M" in Miller run together. In the other 2 the first and last name are separated.

So, that's the long and the short of it. I now have the correct 1961.