Aaron Miles
Oakland Athletics — No. 7
Second baseman
Born: December 15, 1976 (1976-12-15) (age 33) Pittsburg, California
Bats: Switch	Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 11, 2003 for the Chicago White Sox
Career statistics (through 2009 season)
Batting average	.282
Hits	629
Home runs	16
Runs batted in	175
Teams
Chicago White Sox (2003) Colorado Rockies (2004-2005) St. Louis Cardinals (2006-2008) Chicago Cubs (2009) Oakland Athletics (2010-present)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion (2006)

Aaron Wade Miles (born December 15, 1976 in Antioch, California) is a Major League Baseball infielder for the Oakland Athletics.

[edit] Pro career

Miles was originally drafted by the Houston Astros in the 19th round of the 1995 amateur draft. As a member of the Colorado Rockies, he finished fourth in the voting for the 2004 MLB Rookie of the Year Award in the National League. He made his major league debut September 11, 2003 and hit .333 with two runs batted in in eight games for the Chicago White Sox.

During the 2004 Summer Olympics Games held in Athens, Greece, Miles, being of Greek heritage (his paternal grandmother was born in Sparta), made the roster of the host nation's Greek Baseball Team, but the switch-hitting rookie second baseman was drafted by the Colorado Rockies and was cut from the Olympic Team.

Miles won a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2006. In December 2006, the Cardinals announced that he had re-signed to an incentive-laden one-year contract for the 2007 season.

On August 4, Aaron threw a perfect 8th inning in a 12-1 loss to the Washington Nationals. Of Miles' nine pitches, six were for strikes. It was the first time he had pitched since he was 14 years old. Miles pitched during the game when Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa asked his pitching coach, Dave Duncan, "Who's our shortest reliever?" The tongue-in-cheek answer was Miles, at 5' 8". His pitching career took a turn for the worse later that season. On September 20, he pitched the 9th inning against the Houston Astros and was touched for 3 hits, including a 2-run home run by J. R. Towles. It was Towles' first career major league home run. On June 13, 2008, Miles would make his third pitching appearance, this time against the Philadelphia Phillies. With the Phillies leading 20-2, Miles came in to finish off the game with a perfect 9th inning.

He re-signed with the Cardinals for a one-year deal, January 4, 2008, after a non-tender and short free-agency status in December 2007.^[1]

On July 20, 2008, Miles got his first walk-off hit, a 1-out grand slam to beat the San Diego Padres, 9-5.

On September 20, 2008, Miles popped out to Jim Edmonds on a pitch by Kerry Wood to end the game and give the Chicago Cubs the win and the 2008 NL Central title.

On December 31, 2008, Miles signed a two-year deal with the Chicago Cubs.^[2] He is expected to be the primary backup infielder to second baseman Mike Fontenot, shortstop Ryan Theriot and third baseman Aramis Ramirez, after losing the starting job at second to Fontenot during Spring Training.

On April 3, 2009 Miles was the first ever batter at New Yankee Stadium. He got a base hit, which was also a stadium first.

On December 3, 2009, Miles was traded along with Jake Fox to the Oakland Athletics. for Jeff Gray and 2 minor league prospects.

[edit] Personal life

He is a graduate of Antioch High School, located in Antioch, California. He lives in nearby Brentwood, with his wife (Courtney), daughter (Nicole Dakota), and son (Jackson) during the offseason.

In spring training of 2000, several of his teammates from the Houston Astros organization were in their hotel when two gunmen burst into their room. Miles was in the next room and the gunmen took him hostage. The police arrived before the gunmen were able to take him to their getaway car, but one gunman fled the scene. The other forced Miles back into his room where he ended up wrestling the gunman to the ground. The police entered the room and shot the gunman while Miles held him to the floor. The gunman survived his wounds, and his accomplice was later captured.^[3]

[edit] Media

Discussed by comedian Kevin Meaney and a female audience member (claiming to be Miles' "girlfriend" during a live-recorded 2004 performance of Meaney's in Battle Creek, Michigan (album entitled "That's Not Right!", track "Catchers & Pitchers").

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)