In the game of softball, Clarence “Buck” Miller was a pitcher with overpowering speed. Attesting to his ability, Miller struck out more than 6,500 batters in his career and won an estimated ninety-seven percent of the games he pitched. A Memphis native, “Buck” Miller first played softball at age fourteen. After pitching for Harwell Brothers and Buckeye Cellulose Corp., he played for Standard Parts of Memphis from 1946 to 1957. In the 1947 Tennessee State Tournament, Miller threw thirty-six strikeouts in a sixteen-inning no-hitter and then won a succeeding second game with both his pitching and hitting. In the 1948 regional tournament, Miller won four games while hurling three no-hitters in a row and seventy-eight strikeouts in thirty-four innings. After dropping his first game in the nationals, he then threw five consecutive shutouts before losing in the championship game. Finishing the national tournament with 101 strikeouts in fifty-two innings, Miller was named Outstanding Softball Player of the Year by the Spokane Sports Writers Association. “Buck” Miller was a First Team American Softball Association All-American in 1948, 1952, and 1954 and second team in 1955. In the 1952 national tournament, he won three of five games, struck out fifty-five batters in forty-four innings, and had a 0.48 ERA. In the 1954 nationals, his record was 3-1 with fifty-nine strikeouts in thirty-six innings. In 1955 he fanned forty-one batters in twenty-four innings and posted a 2-2 record. A member of the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame, Miller was inducted into the Softball Hall of Fame in 1960. Looking back over the years of virtually unsurpassed accomplishments that justified his national recognition, Miller observed that the guys who played the game “practically lived for the excitement on the ball field.” Undoubtedly for opposing teams, there must have been much excitement and concern when “Buck” Miller, strikeout king, stepped to the mound.
