Santa Clarita Valley Journal | Donald Miller Joins 400 Club (53.08)
Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2023 11:50 am
Santa Clarita Valley Journal
Vicente Lamb, Stars Reporter
July 18, 2052
DES MOINES – Valencia Star Donald Miller belted his four-hundredth career home run at Edward Murphy Memorial Stadium tonight, in a game the Stars would ultimately lose in the bottom of the ninth on a walk-off, Hector Cano, Jr. grand slam home run. “Bittersweet,” is how the normally taciturn and retiring right fielder described the moment in the sixth inning when he belted a Jon Brown fastball 417 feet to deep center-left to finally get Valencia on the board. “Personal milestones are great and all, and I won't pretend this means nothing, but this loss was tough,” said Miller in a post-game interview.
The loss completed the four-game series sweep by the Kernels, and was the sixth straight defeat for Valencia, who fall to 51-46 and find themselves one game out of playoff position as their season of struggle continues. Des Moines, meanwhile, has arrived as a contender. They improve to 58-39 with the win, and are just 4 ½ games out of first place in the Heartland.
Miller has been one of Valencia's few reliable power hitters in recent seasons. This was Miller's twenty-third home run on the year, and one-hundred sixteenth in a Stars uniform. He continues to climb the career home runs list, closing in on the Top 100 all time. Some players seek the spotlight, and others, like Miller, do the opposite.
Even on a night like this, when a player might be tempted to reflect on their own career, Miller was more interested in talking about the Stars' season, and what he and other players needed to do better in order to reach the postseason. “The offense just feels like we're less then the sum of our parts right now, like we're not getting the things done, scoring runs, that we should be. Some of it is guys not playing up to their potential, and I'm, to be fair, one of them,” mused Miller, in an understandably downbeat locker room postgame. “But also, some of it just feels like bad luck, like we're not getting things done in the right sequence, getting our hits in clusters, to push more runs across.”
Vicente Lamb, Stars Reporter
July 18, 2052
DES MOINES – Valencia Star Donald Miller belted his four-hundredth career home run at Edward Murphy Memorial Stadium tonight, in a game the Stars would ultimately lose in the bottom of the ninth on a walk-off, Hector Cano, Jr. grand slam home run. “Bittersweet,” is how the normally taciturn and retiring right fielder described the moment in the sixth inning when he belted a Jon Brown fastball 417 feet to deep center-left to finally get Valencia on the board. “Personal milestones are great and all, and I won't pretend this means nothing, but this loss was tough,” said Miller in a post-game interview.
Miller has been one of Valencia's few reliable power hitters in recent seasons. This was Miller's twenty-third home run on the year, and one-hundred sixteenth in a Stars uniform. He continues to climb the career home runs list, closing in on the Top 100 all time. Some players seek the spotlight, and others, like Miller, do the opposite.
Even on a night like this, when a player might be tempted to reflect on their own career, Miller was more interested in talking about the Stars' season, and what he and other players needed to do better in order to reach the postseason. “The offense just feels like we're less then the sum of our parts right now, like we're not getting the things done, scoring runs, that we should be. Some of it is guys not playing up to their potential, and I'm, to be fair, one of them,” mused Miller, in an understandably downbeat locker room postgame. “But also, some of it just feels like bad luck, like we're not getting things done in the right sequence, getting our hits in clusters, to push more runs across.”