Corky Miller: Still Doing What He Loves

Corky Miller shares his journey from aspiring baseball player in Yucaipa,CA to signing with the Reds and making it to the big leagues. He discusses the challenges he faced, including being a non-drafted free agent and the excitement of his call-up. After his playing career, Corky transitioned into coaching, where he continues to impact the game. He also reflects of the importance of staying connected to the sport.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Corky Miller
02:38 Corky's Early Career and Decision to Play Baseball
10:53 First Taste of Professional Baseball
19:01 Making It to the Big Leagues
21:48 Life in the Major Leagues
25:03 Transitioning to Coaching
28:27 Life After Playing Baseball
34:20 Managing in Independent Baseball
39:14 Current Role as Catching Coordinator

Transcript

Jeff Perro (00:35)
Hello, everybody. Welcome to another exciting episode of Catch Up with JP. I am your host, Jeff Perro Today's guest is Mr. Corky Miller. Mr. Miller was a long time catcher, quite at several teams, most notably the Cincinnati Reds. Now he's working with Cincinnati Reds as their catching coordinator. Mr. Miller, welcome to the show today.

CorkyMiller (00:56)
Hey, thanks, Jeff. It's exciting to be on today.

Jeff Perro (00:59)
Good, thank you. So you grew up in Yucaipa, California. You were two-sport athlete, football, baseball.

How'd you decide baseball over football?

CorkyMiller (01:06)
Right.

You know, I always loved baseball and growing up and Yucaipa it was a sports town and You know just something I always wanted to do I remember in You know elementary school. They'd always ask you what you wanted to be and and I always told him a professional baseball player But after Every teacher said hey, you know, you better think of something else not everybody makes it, what else you want to be and I just thought

I guess I'll tell them I want to be a teacher so they like me a little bit more and it never ended up that way. just ended up being in baseball and, I ended up being lucky enough to sign with the Reds in 98 and, you know, just playing baseball and I'm still in the game. it's something I've always thought that I would be in.

If I could tell my teachers now, it's like, well, don't count everything out even though you don't think the kid can do it.

Jeff Perro (02:07)
something at some point or word of mouth found out what you've been up to since elementary school. If not, look them up on Facebook.

CorkyMiller (02:13)
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, no, I

You know, I went to, I actually in high school, I had more, more offers to go play college for football than I did for baseball, but, got drafted out of, out of high school in the 20th round by the angels. and, kind of blew that deal, by asking for a little bit more money. I didn't know, Tyrone Hill was a first round draft pick in 91.

So that was about the extent of any kind of pro baseball player out of Yucaipa at that time and You know, I I got drafted they offered me I think $7,500 for a bonus and $7,500 for school and Talking to my coach and they're like, well, you know if if you don't get this much money Like you're kind of just pushed to the side if you don't do really well and so I asked for

I think I asked for $25,000 cash and the scouts said, all right, we'll come back. with an offer here in a minute. And they came back in about 30 seconds said no. So I was like, wow, what about 15? And they're like, nah, it doesn't work that way. And ended up.

You know, I was a draft and follow, so I ended up going to junior college after that and then waiting for the year. And then after the end of my freshman year at junior college is when I had that conversation and they kind of just said, no, it's, it's, it's over with good luck with your career and played one more year of junior college at, San Bernardino Valley, which is, probably 20 minutes from Yucaipa And I had one offer to go to University of Nevada, Reno, and took that job. So.

Jeff Perro (03:39)
Yeah.

It worked out for you there. Did you finish your education, college education too?

CorkyMiller (04:09)
No, I did not.

I did not. I have no idea what I need left. I mean, it was always in the back of my mind if baseball didn't work out, you know, and you always heard the stories of guys going back to school and, you know, getting another job. But I never thought that way. I always thought, you know, I'll play baseball until, you know, I'm dead. Yeah.

Jeff Perro (04:31)
The wheels fall off.

CorkyMiller (04:35)
You know, so I actually didn't even get drafted out of Reno. I signed as a non-drafted free agent. hitting coach at Reno, his brother was a scout with the Reds. And, you know, after the draft and I didn't, you know, there was 40 rounds back then. I'm waiting, I'm waiting, I'm waiting, I hear nothing. And I get a phone call and he's like, Hey, you want a job? And I said, yeah, doing what?

I knew that he was also a guy for EA Sports Baseball Like he was a, I don't know what you call it, a tester or you know, it was a scout for the Reds, but played the game to make sure everything was good in the EA Sports So I was like, yeah, doing what? And he's like, um playing baseball. And I'm like, yeah, dude, I'd love it. You know, like what? Yeah. Where do I go? And he said, you know, come down and,

Jeff Perro (05:19)
The field or video games.

CorkyMiller (05:25)
come down to my house with sign a contract because I'm sending my resignation letter and I want to put them both in the same package. And then, you you got to go to Billings, Montana here in a week. So that's what I did.

Jeff Perro (05:37)
That's hysterical. So you head up to Billings, Montana. What was that first taste of pro ball? I know it's hard being you weren't a second round draft pick. Trying to get playing time as a NDFA guy isn't the easiest thing to do.

CorkyMiller (05:37)
Yeah, that's right. Yeah.

No, you know, it was, it was a little different than it is now. So like they flew all the draft picks, to Billings And since I was a couple of days later, we hadn't started practice yet, but like there was no host family. Everybody had already gotten together. Everybody had roommates and, um, I was, I was there the night before the first practice. And then I showed up and they say, Hey, uh, you know, all the catchers go over to the bullpen and they had this huge like,

six pack bullpen and there was like eight guys over there and I was like my gosh like the scout told me is like they're looking for a an older senior catcher and I'm looking at eight different guys and I'm like well it didn't really look like they needed another catcher but

After like the first few pitches, I looked out, was like, yeah, I'm better than these guys. And then come to find out most of them were outfielders or first basemen that they decided, hey, see if you can catch it might be a better opportunity. They had one true catcher, he was a high school kid at like seventh round. And he was raw, but that was probably why I was there. And after the second day,

There was only two of us that were still catching. Everybody else went to their positions. And Russ Nixon was our manager. All-star catcher in his own right, great guy. I think I ended up catching 55 games out of the 75 that we played that year, so.

Jeff Perro (07:27)
Not much of a battle, I guess.

CorkyMiller (07:29)
No, you know, it was

tough for the young kid. mean, he was a high school kid that, you know, was four years younger than me. And I was in the big West at that time and facing USC and Pepperdine UCLA and guys like that.

Jeff Perro (07:47)
The maturity that you gain from college, physically and mentally, and you're used to being out someplace alone, it's a lot different than being 17, 18 years old and thrown to Billings Montana.

CorkyMiller (07:50)
Yes.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, you know, it was exciting experience, great place to start your career. You know, I'm kind of bummed that we don't have a rookie ball system like that anymore. But it was a great time, made some good friends. I was on that team with Adam Dunn Austin Kearns, you know, guys that made it to the big leagues that did really well. We still keep in touch every day. We're on a text thread and we had

The next year, 99, we all went to Rockford, Illinois, which we had two teams in that Midwest League. And as position players, think seven or eight of them made the big leagues. Yeah.

Jeff Perro (08:43)
That's

a stacked minor league system back in 1999.

CorkyMiller (08:47)
Yeah, I think

we won 52 games, I think, in the first half. And then everybody kind of got moved up to double A from there.

Jeff Perro (08:56)
The half system in minor league baseball is kind of weird. You don't want be too good the first half because then you won't have any players the second half.

CorkyMiller (08:58)
Yeah.

Yeah, cuz then they all get moved up kind of like what happened with us so.

Jeff Perro (09:05)
like I said, still as a non-drafted free agent guy, you worked your way up through the Reds' system pretty quick.

CorkyMiller (09:10)
Yeah, 99, 2000, I had two full seasons, um, before I got to the big leagues. Uh, you know, 98 was a half season. Yeah. Um, 2000 was AA and then, you know, I didn't hit really well that year. think it .230, .240 which, you know, nowadays that's hitting really good. Um, but back then wasn't.

Jeff Perro (09:17)
Okay. That's quick.

CorkyMiller (09:34)
And then they ended up getting a free agent that could hit in 2001. And we were splitting time. The two years before that, I had played 110 games, 109 games, I think. And then we brought in a free agent that could hit. And I was like, what do gotta do? I'm going from playing 110 games to splitting time. And I ended up just catching fire at the right time about the break and got called to Louisville.

Hit real well up there, no idea what I was doing. Thought it was a huge difference, but I was just out there playing. I just thought I'm gonna play forever. And if it's not in minor league ball, it's gonna be softball league somewhere and end up getting called up in September in 01.

Jeff Perro (10:27)
Hi there, I'm JP, the host of Catch Up with JP.

Jeff Perro (10:30)
In addition to my duties as the host, I am also the guy. I'm the guy who entered his credit card number in dozens of places to get this podcast, YouTube channel thing off the ground. I'm also the guy who bought this little handy tripod here and this little microphone that hopefully picks up pretty good sound.

and dozens and dozens of other little expenses If you would like to purchase some advertising with this site, podcasts, YouTube, I'd appreciate it. Got anything to sell, anything you want to talk about?

Hit me up. My email address is JP@catchupbaseball.com It's JP@catchupbaseball.com. Let's chat I can do banners on the website I can do the full 30 second pieces at the beginning middle or end of a podcast If your audience is baseball fans are baseball players. Hit me up I could use to make

a dollar or two back off of this so that my wife doesn't unalive me over this brilliant idea to start this baseball related podcast. So Let's talk. JP@CatchUpBaseball.com all one word.

Jeff Perro (11:42)
It's 11 years in the big leagues after that. Part, yeah, I get you, part.

CorkyMiller (11:44)
Yeah, you know, you could

say 11 years, but you know, I got called up in to the big leagues in 11 different years. So.

Jeff Perro (11:53)
I always like to hear that the story I've been there for a few guys getting called up to the big leagues Tell me about your call up and the Cincinnati were you guys at home? Did you have the family there?

CorkyMiller (12:05)
Yeah,

yeah, we were in Louisville. Dave, Dave Miley was my manager. My dad and my aunt and uncle had flown in. My dad hadn't seen me play since 98. And my aunt and uncle convinced him to fly out. Like he likes to stay at home. He likes to stay around Yucaipa And they convinced him to fly out to watch a couple games and they flew in. We went to,

to lunch and I got to the field, you know, pretty excited to have my dad watch me play and I get called in the office and I think this was September, might've been like September 1st or 2nd or maybe right before that, whatever it was. And Dave Miley calls me in the office and like, hey, know, Chattanooga, which was our AA team is going to the playoffs and they want you to go back and help them win a championship. And I was like, all right, well.

My dad's here, you know, what's going to happen with my dad and my aunt and uncle, they going to drive down to Chattanooga? And, uh, just trying to go through that in my head, but I'm excited to go back to Chattanooga and try to win a championship. And I'm like, oh man, all right, cool. And he goes, no, I'm joking. You're going to Cincinnati and, uh, you need to be up there tonight. And I was like, oh, now then everything else starts spinning around. It's like, oh, well, my dad's supposed to leave tomorrow.

You know, like they were just coming in for a couple of days. had an off day, day before. And I said, why he's not going to get to see me play. So I go out, you know, and, uh, call them and said, Hey, I'm not going to play tonight. And they're like, Oh, why? What's happening? You hurt? Said no, I'm going to Cincinnati and they ended up changing their fight and they, they never got to see me play because they were there for two days and I didn't play it for the first two days. And, but they were up there and, and.

came to the game and got to me put on a uniform up there and that was pretty cool.

Jeff Perro (14:00)
I always love hearing those stories because I could I could never imagine anything like that But you made your debut a couple days later,

CorkyMiller (14:04)
Yeah.

Yeah, I don't remember the date. Maybe September 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th. okay. Yeah. So it was right around there. remember, you my dad bought a like a Cincinnati Reds Aloha shirt or something there and was wearing it. And he was pumped up, man. I didn't know really he was going to be that pumped up for me. just, you know, he just never see me play in Pro Ball.

Jeff Perro (14:11)
September 4th, yes, good job. I have it written right here. Good job.

CorkyMiller (14:34)
And I thought he was going to be a little upset about not seeing me play, but he was more excited about me getting to the big leagues.

Jeff Perro (14:42)
I know your son's in the dugout. It's gotta be pretty cool for a dad. then you spent how many years? Four more years up and down with the Reds,

CorkyMiller (14:44)
Yeah, yeah,

no, that, yeah, it was, cool to see the old stadium go down and the new stadium come up in 03 and then, you know, it was up and down. just, I'd never really put anything together. Didn't have a ton of playing time, you know, that I'd had in Louisville, but, you know, kind of wore out my welcome, I guess. They wanted to change some stuff up.

and ended up getting picked up by Minnesota and then bouncing around till 09 getting traded back over to the Reds.

Jeff Perro (15:20)
I spent about three days of my life in Cincinnati and about a week and a half of my life in Louisville. I didn't notice when I was there, but especially in Louisville, is there Corky Miller Boulevard? Did they name the international airport after you, anything like that? I they retired your number. There's got to be at least a boulevard or a highway, no?

CorkyMiller (15:34)
No

No, not yet. you know, they always said I could be the mayor there, but that's yeah. They always said I could be the mayor there, but you know, that's job I don't want. If I'm not the dugout. yeah, it was exciting to have my number retired there. Spent, 11 seasons there, in Louisville and, love the town, love the people kind of watched it go from, you know, a downtown you didn't want to be in to a downtown that's,

Jeff Perro (15:43)
Not yet, not yet.

CorkyMiller (16:08)
an attraction for everybody you go to.

Jeff Perro (16:14)
Be 17 and again like in 2023 and it's a cool downtown down there. The Louisville Slugger Museum. Didn't get to go to a ball game. The team was out of town. It's a cool place and you still get to go back and spend some time with your with what you're doing now, right?

CorkyMiller (16:18)
Yeah.

Yeah, correct.

Jeff Perro (16:35)
So 2014 was your last season playing professional baseball with the Reds. I don't know, did you hang up during that season or was it after that season you decided not to come back?

CorkyMiller (16:49)
Now, 2013, so 11 and 12, I never got called up to the big leagues. There was never a need. They had two guys up there that were healthy all year, and that's great. I knew that was my role to be the third catcher and be in Louisville and help out some of the guys like Devin Mesrocco and Tucker Barnhart and guys like that.

Um, but in 13, I got called up and spent a good amount of time up in Cincinnati. And, you know, I think I was 37 years old at the time. Um, it wasn't as easy to get to the big leagues, um, for me, just because all the prospects coming up, like, you know, you see Devin and Tucker go up to the big leagues and, um, I knew Tucker was going on the 40 man and I kind of just,

I was going to be done after that season. I kind of asked the Reds about a coaching job, either in the big leagues or in the minor leagues. My first option was for them to keep me on the 40 man and put me in the big leagues and give me a one year salary. They didn't want to go for that, which I don't blame them, but I thought it was worth a shot.

So I said, you know, put me on the 40 man or give me a one year contract, you know, no matter where I go.

a bullpen coach in the big leagues, be a roving catch instructor, or be a pitching coach somewhere. Bryan Price called me after that and said, hey, we want you to come back. And I said, okay, well, are you giving me a contract? Like, no, we'll come back as a Minor League free agent. And I was like, well, it's not what I wanna do. And-

He just kept on pushing and pushing like, and finally I signed, signed up minor league contract with him again. And, I just didn't want to go to spring training again. I didn't want to do the stretches. I didn't want to, you know, travel on the road games and not play, you know, it's just, it was just something I was. Was pretty much done with, but Bryan was like, Hey, we'll do the bullpens during the stretches. that way you don't have to stretch. You can stretch on your own. You could do the bullpens.

And so I signed the contract and, was there of a case of emergency. Well, I think Devin got hurt and they ended up calling up Tucker Barnhart, opening day. So I was like, you know, kind of pissed cause he told me that, you you're gonna, you're gonna come up if anything happens and they caught up. Yeah. So then I was just, you know, I think I, they,

Jeff Perro (19:24)
Something happened and they caught, yeah.

CorkyMiller (19:31)
We had a couple guys coming in and out. Tucker got sent back down and he was playing every day and they need a roster spot. So they put me on the Phantom DL, which is now considered the development list. And then I just said, well, I'm going to go home. You know, if you need me, you know, call me. I'll go home and I'll work out and they were fine with it. And then, a couple of weeks later I called him and like, Hey, you gonna need me?

They're like, yeah, probably not. Just hang tight. And so a couple of weeks later I was thinking, well, they could release me and then I won't have a paycheck. And so I called them back and said, hey, you know, I'll do anything you want. just, if you're going to release me, let me know so I could try to find another job. And they're like, no, we'll honor your contract at the, After the draft, you can, you can travel to Dayton and, and Arizona and do a couple things as like a

A roving catching guy.

Jeff Perro (20:24)
So, you've stuck with that position, Were you comfortable with that position when 2015 rolled around? Is that something that you wanted to do?

CorkyMiller (20:34)
Well, yeah, you know, like after the draft, I went to Billings and that's when Tyler Stephenson, we drafted him in the first round. it was pretty cool to, I went to Billings for, think two weeks and travel with the team and hung out with them. And, you know, it was just, it was, you know, like I, in April, I was in the dugout in AAA, you know, as a player. And then now it's in June and I'm sitting in Billings, Montana as, as a coach.

But I mean, I was still on a player's contract. If something happened, you know, like they could call me at any time to go back to playing. Then that year, you know, I kind of finished, went to Dayton a couple of times. And then Instructional League, which is after the season, which guys that get drafted or guys that need to work on a new position or new pitches. So I went there for four weeks and just

kind of doing the same thing I was doing in Billings you know, kind of talking to the players, just hanging out, like talking about the game. And, you know, it was, it was easy for me just to be myself in a situation where I didn't have to hit 97 mile an hour fastballs or block, you know, 85 mile an hour sliders in the dirt,

You know, we, weren't real sure what they wanted to do. Um, if they wanted a roving, catching instructor, if they wanted a fourth coach. so we kind of did like a hybrid thing where I was a fourth coach in Dayton, but when they would go on the road, I would go out to like Louisville or Chattanooga or,

and if you still look up on online, it says I'm a coach in Dayton, which I mean, that was 10 years ago and I was only there for one year.

Jeff Perro (22:17)
Some digging the Reds  kind of like to keep their coaching assignments secret. It seems like it's kind of tough to dig down. But you are their catching coordinator and you have been since 2016 17. Is that correct?

CorkyMiller (22:24)
Yeah.

Yeah,

yes. I was a hybrid catching instructor in 15. It was official title in 16. But it's basically been the same thing. I just go in and travel around to the different teams and spend a week with every team and talk to catchers, talk to pitchers, talk to players, you know, just about the game and just being an asset for them.

Jeff Perro (22:55)
Do you love doing that?

CorkyMiller (22:58)
Yeah, I mean, I'm still in the game. when you talk to players, and you could probably answer this, know, like the one thing they miss is the camaraderie, the dugout, the clubhouse, the travel, know, like hanging out with people. And I still get to do that every day.

Jeff Perro (23:17)
the best things of the game without the busted up fingers and the stretching. Good, I'm glad you found something that you love. I know seems like the Reds also utilize you as a former player with the appearances and things like that as well. do you get to Cincinnati a couple times a year for things like that as well?

CorkyMiller (23:21)
Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right.

yeah, I'm in probably in Cincinnati 10 times, 11 times during a year, you know, with the Reds caravan, the Reds Fest, I'm big with the Joe Nuxhall Foundation there, you know, do a lot of stuff with the Hall of Fame. We got Fantasy Camp, out in Goodyear in January.

it's always great to go back there and people know you. It was probably the mustache, probably just being around for so long. I had always people would come up to you and say, yeah, well, my dad used to bring me to watch you play, and here's my son. And I'm like, I don't know if that's a compliment or like, hey, you're really old. know, when guys are watching you play when you're

when they're like 10, 11, 12 and they're bringing their five, six, seven year old to watch ya play.

Jeff Perro (24:33)
In Texas, we had Rangers season tickets and I became close with other players on that team and I've bumped into since then. And now I'm old, I'm 46, but you know, through my 20s, 30s and 40s, I've bumped into those guys again and just thanked them said, you know, I worked in professional baseball for a decade, but you guys just being cool to me when I was six, seven, 18 years old is what made me want to do that. So thank you. And thank you as well.

CorkyMiller (24:46)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Jeff Perro (24:59)
One other question I have for you. I worked in baseball for a decade and I was gone by the COVID season 2020. And that just intrigues me of how the baseball world got turned upside down and the way everything ran was just different. 2020, you were the manager for the Nerds Herd How did you get into that? And were you still kind of performing duties with the Reds at the same time?

CorkyMiller (25:16)
Yeah.

Like all the teams had their alternate site and, we had one in Prasco, which is up a little bit north of Cincinnati. and they were trying to hand pick guys to go and, help get those guys ready case the big league team needed them. And, they're just.

There was no need for me to go. had another guy that had just become one of our catching coaches, younger than me, that needed guys that maybe could play catch bullpens and you know, I was fine with it, you know, just because I got to spend time with my family. then someone approached me with, the Joliet Slammers independent team is going to try to put on a four team league during the summer.

and they were looking for manager coaches and end up going there talking to the guy and he made me a manager of the team. was Glenallen Hill, was a manager, Scott Spiezio, myself, and then I forget the other manager [Billy Petrick]. But it was guys, know, like independent league guys with, I think we had two Reds.

guys on our team, catcher and outfielder that were around there. But it was, three to four games a week for a couple of months. And it was a cool experience. And I got to do baseball when baseball wasn't really going on.

a buddy of mine's got a, they've got an academy up in Mokena, Illinois. And, we'd have guys come in there and hit on off days and, like Glenallen Hill, he reserved the field every day to have his team go out there and play. like, he had got all the best times. it was going to be tough for us to get on the field. So we just went hit and,

But we, mean, we got through it. was just like playing baseball and you know, there, you know, a couple of family members in the stands, but, and I mean, there was a couple of scouts. Ian Kroll was on our team and he ended up getting signed next, the next year to the Tigers. And that was cool.

Jeff Perro (27:23)
Something to do and some of those guys could have really benefited from that. It is showcasing themselves when no one else is able to do that or staying hot and improving their skills. All right, Mr. Miller, Is there anything else you want to add about life after baseball and what you've been up to or what you've been going on?

CorkyMiller (27:27)
Yeah.

Well,

you know, I don't know. couldn't really answer life after baseball because I'm still doing it. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's pretty much the same thing, you know, but I, as a roving instructor, I travel around like right now I'm in Houston. My son's playing down here at Alvin Community College

Jeff Perro (27:47)
You're still in it, Life after playing, I apologize.

CorkyMiller (28:04)
I'm down here watching a couple of games this week, and then I'm heading up to Great Lakes, Michigan to watch the Dragons play. And then I'll be heading to Dominican next week as well to look at our young guys that are down there. But yeah, it's the same thing I've been doing when I was playing the last few years, is sitting in the dugout and...

You know, having a good time. Yeah. Talking baseball, you know, most of my work is done. it's instructing is done during spring training or instructs. then during the season, it's implementing those tweaks or things that we've worked on in spring training. Now, that's where my goal is to get those guys ready to go out and improve on those things all year. So I just go in, check in if they're doing them.

Jeff Perro (28:26)
Talking baseball.

All right, Mr. Miller, I definitely appreciate your time today. Thanks for joining us. And if you ever want to chat some more, you got my contact. And I'd love to talk to you some more, all right?

CorkyMiller (29:02)
All right, thanks JP.