Talkin’ Baseball (and Business) with … former Twins OF Ian Miller

[Seth Stohs]

If you ever want or need a pick-me-up. If you need a reminder about how great baseball can be. If you enjoy listening to people who have a passion for baseball. If you want a fun story about a player overcoming the odds and getting to the big leagues, I really think you will enjoy this conversation with Outfielder Ian Miller, and you’ll want to bookmark the 9-Hole Podcast.

We talk all the time about how prospect or player development is not linear. One of the other clichés around baseball is that it takes all types. Not everyone has to look like Aaron Judge. Not everyone has to have an arm like Jhoan Duran. Baseball players can succeed in all shapes and sizes.  

Ian Miller noted, “(The scouts) are looking for Tools. I’m not just going to just snap my fingers and magically figure out how to hit .400 with pop and drive the ball out of the yard. I think my junior year, I had three or four extra base hits in 50 games or something like that in Division I baseball. That’s very not good. So I needed to showcase the defense. I needed to showcase the range, the arm, and especially the stolen bases.” 

He’s from the northeast. Wagner is a small Division I up north. They don’t have a stadium on campus. They play where the Staten Island Yankees play, so they didn’t get very many fans to watch them. However, by his junior season, the scouts had found him. 

The Mariners drafted him in the 14th-round of the 2013 draft, just seven picks after the Twins selected Staten Island native and Seton Hall grad Zack Granite. “Man, I looked up to a dude like that, tried to be that guy. We were always kind of neck and neck, in terms of how we played the game, how we went about our business, our skill sets. I just always tried to be like that guy.” .

In fact, Granite has been a two-time guest on the 9-Hole Podcast. 

• Hungry Dogs Run Faster. 
• A Masterclass in the Art of Small Ball.  

He was in Double-A within two years of being drafted. He got to Triple-A in 2017. He continued to bat in or near the 9-Hole, and he continued to play great defense and hit enough, get on base and steal bases. He played in just 136 combined games between two levels of rookie ball and two levels of Class A ball. He played 284 games at Double-A. He played a total of 383 Triple-A games.  

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On August 10, 2019, Miller was traded to the Twins. Twins fans certainly remember the record-setting home run season for the Bomba Squad. Understandably, Derek Falvey wanted an element of speed for the bench late in the season and potentially in the playoffs. 

He spent about 20 days with the Rochester Red Wings. Manager Joel Skinner let him know that he was headed to the big leagues for September. 

He said that the team made him feel very comfortable when he got to the big-league clubhouse. 

Derek Falvey: “I gave him a hug when he called me up. I gave him a huge hug.” 

Nelson Cruz: “I spent a whole lot of time with Nelson Cruz over with the Mariners, so that was kind of my in. Nelson knew me. He gave me a big hug when I was there, like on the bus, and said, ‘ What’s up, bro? Good to see you. Finally you’re up here.’ One of the best guys ever!”

He made his MLB debut at Fenway Park. It’s a hilarious story of being heckled, then fans learning about his debut, and then one of the funnier lines you’ll hear.

His first hit came in his first start off of Jordan Zimmerman. The Twins had clinched a playoff spot the night before.  

Miller played in 12 games with the Twins. Mostly, he came off the bench to play defense. He wasn’t there to hit. He was there for his speed game, defense and arm.

Following the season, the Twins allowed him to become a free agent. He signed with the Cubs. In the shortened-Covid season, he was with the team for a few games but only got to play in one game. He spent the 2021 season with the Iowa Cubs. 

That offseason, he got married, went on his honeymoon, and then went to play in Mexico. The team was good, but when the season was over, he knew it was probably the last time he would play.

“My down time went from watching video, getting scouting reports on who’s pitching tonight. Watching swings from Mike Trout and Aaron Judge and trying to be in all-the-know of baseball. My time then was reading investment journals, reading about stocks. That’s the stuff that was interesting to me. I’d be up when the markets opened, listening to podcasts. Learned. That’s the stuff that was interesting to me.” 

He enjoyed watching Stuart Varney on Fox Business. He enjoyed the business and economic conversations, but he also just liked Varney’s voice. In fact, he contacted the British-American journalist and ended up working for a while. . 

If you think that hearing Ian Miller talk about baseball was passion-filled, you should hear him talk about his current business, Rellimnai Enterprises. He used his baseball knowledge and his story and his background in economics and investments to start his own business. It’s a coaching and consulting business, but he also started The 9-Hole podcast which has really taken off. Follow him on Instagram at @ianmiller14, Twitter at @8rellimnai,  and TikTok at @the9holepodcast as well. 

“I’m just trying to lead, and inspire and show kids that are in the 9-Hole, like I was, from Little League to the big leagues, from the classroom to the business world. You can literally do anything you want regardless of if you’re leading off or in the 9-Hole.”   

It’s always fun to see what former players are up to after their playing careers. It’s really great to see former players giving back to the game, and to the next generations of players. It is especially fun to see when they are so passionate about it. 

Please check out Ian MIller’s webpages and podcast. 

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