From Phenom To The Farm

FORMER BALLPLAYERS REFLECT ON PRO SUCCESS AND FAILURE

- by KYLE BANDUJO

As a teenager, Ian Miller didn't have the typical pedigree of a future big leaguer.

He had been cut from his seventh-grade American Legion team and didn't make varsity until his junior year of high school. The outfielder was a late bloomer. He was undersized and underdeveloped, but even as he waited to fill out, there was one thing going for him.

“I always had speed,” Miller said. “That's how I didn't get overlooked. I was able to get my foot in the door.”

Miller couldn't put on a show during batting practice but could when running from home to first. A perfectly placed drag bunt caught the eye of the coaching staff at Wagner, giving Miller the opportunity to walk on to the Staten Island-based program during the fall of 2010, but with no guarantees.

“There was nothing promised to me,” Miller said. “Nothing at all.”