Talking Dots Miller with John Dreker
I recently did an interview with John Dreker - talking about Dots Miller, who was a member of the Pirates’ first World Series championship team in 1909.
John has come out with a book about Dots Miller. Here is a link to the book: https://www.amazon.com/They-Call-Him-Dots-Miller/dp/B0CV633PNT/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1FM5SHA8TDI57&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ymdBevqjo0xOe5KRxPxZgan-1NRBqy5th3bnriQy0aU8bWAMp05Mkpr75SYmw3kdlF_WAIz6hICuWrJp-nGAT_o88RSL_KRra4JYtAkjZQEuk5puU5WtuV0mRAQX6w4r4alh4utmGTgz55JcUERRtg.VNPiDQESGt0uXOl2gu1q4YkUnv5cGcC-Z3jpyeQMeII&dib_tag=se&keywords=they+call+him+dots&qid=1709214937&sprefix=They+call+him+%2Caps%2C335&sr=8-1
Shetler: When were you familiar with the name Dots Miller?
Dreker: I was into baseball history at a very early age. In first grade we had a library day where we took out two books for the weekend to read. I grabbed the team-by-team baseball history books so often that they told me I couldn't take them anymore. I grabbed the Pirates book at least five times. I also had an older book around that same time that covered all of the World Series up to around 1980 I believe, and I read that book all of the time. So I definitely knew of Dots Miller by age 5-6, but I learned a lot more once I got on the computer more often and had information more readily available. I probably took my first deep dive into him around 16 years old when I bought my first Dots Miller card
Shetler: Do you own any cards or memorabilia relating to Dots Miller? If so, what’s your most prized possession?
Dreker: I have a large collection of items related to Dots. I have at least 25 of his baseball cards, including three that all likely have fewer than five copies in existence. One is so rare that they took it off of the sets checklist a few years before I bought it because no one had proof of an example. I also have some old photos, as well as postcards that he sent to his family from 1911 during the baseball season. His autograph is extremely rare, but these were sent to people who knew him, so he signed them Dots. My most prized possession is his 1909 jersey from his rookie season. It has the iconic PBC symbol on the sleeve and as far as I know, it's the only known Pirates jersey from that season, when the team won their first World Series.
Shetler: What made you decide to write a book about Dots Miller?
Dreker: Dots lived a majority of his life in Kearny, New Jersey. I was born in Kearny, so we had that connection. The Pirates connection also helped. However, the biggest connection was that we have ten relatives in common. His niece married into my family, so I have a group of cousins from Kearny who are all related to him. Dots was also born 13 days after my great-grandfather, who lived very close to him. I found a newspaper clipping of them playing together. Between being the same age, having the same German heritage back when there were sections of town for each ethnicity, and having the same hobby, it's safe to say that they knew each other. With my great-grandfather sharing my same name, that means Dots Miller knew of John Dreker.
Shetler: Is there one fascinating fact about Dots Miller that most don’t know about?
Dreker: I think there are two things I discovered as I dug deeper into his career, which really stand out. One was how big of a role he played in mentoring Rogers Hornsby as a teenager with the 1915 St Louis Cardinals. Miller got a lot of credit in the papers for helping Hornsby early in his career. Miller was mentored by Honus Wagner early in his career, with the two basically being best friends during their time together in Pittsburgh. I personally consider Wagner and Hornsby to be the best all-time players at their positions. Miller was not only a double play partner with both, he was a link between them, playing the Honus Wagner role for Hornsby. The other fascinating fact was how highly Hall of Fame manager John McGraw thought of Miller. He called him the most valuable player in all of baseball during the 1915 season. It was a combo of his versatility, batting, defense, running, baseball smarts and being a role model for all players with how he played the game. That was incredible praise at the time.