The ballplayer allergic to grass made sure the ball didn’t touch the ground.
Ian Miller, two games back from a hamstring strain, rounded first as his home run Thursday night traveled 348 feet and landed behind the right-field fence.
The Arkansas Travelers center fielder rounded second, a few feet away from the infield grass that would flare up a light rash on Miller’s skin for a few innings if he touched it. By the time he rounded third, the runner Miller had driven in crossed the plate. By home, Miller slapped five with teammates while his cleats and high socks trotted across the field behind the foul line.
An allergy to grass is a strange condition for an athlete to have — one that left Travs Manager Daren Brown skeptical.
“Well, he’s playing in the grass,” Brown said. “So I don’t know how true that is.”
Miller insists it is.
A bad case of allergies during spring training led him to take an allergy test, and he found out he was “allergic to every type of grass that there’s ever been.”
“Vegetables, fruits that are grown in grass bothers my stomach because of the grass it’s grown in,” said Miller, 25. “If I lay out for a ball and catch it, I get a little itchy on my arms. I’m always conscience of it, but I think it’s kind of funny.”
Travs right-hander Darin Gillies found out about the condition on May 12, when Miller replied to Gillies’ tweet about how a pear is the most underrated fruit.
“I can’t eat fruit,” Miller wrote.
The lighthearted skepticism of his allergy is a reaction to Miller’s goofy character, such as when he pokes his head behind teammates during interviews.
“He keeps stuff light,” Gillies said. “It’s always nice to have a guy like that in the clubhouse. When things are going well, it’s fun. Keeps everyone loose. When things aren’t, he’s the type of guy that gives us an extra boost of energy. Giving guys a laugh when they need it.”
While most Travs players are relatively quiet on social media, Miller pokes fun at his sometimes unglorious life as a minor league baseball player. He wrote about the time he had to unclog his toilet (“#handyman”) and also when he overdrew his checking account after paying a $10 fee.
“Luckily I got paid within the next two days,” said Miller, who makes $700 every two weeks. “I was only in the red for a little while.”
Miller signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners after the organization drafted him in the 14th round of the 2013 MLB Draft out of Wagner College in Staten Island, N.Y. He ascended to Class AA by 2015, where he has played for the past three seasons with a .271 batting average.
This season, Miller is hitting a career-high .344 — trailing teammate Chuck Taylor (.362) for the top spot in the Texas League — and he has stolen a league-high 21 bases. Miller — Seattle’s No. 29 prospect, according to MLB.com — said Mariners management told him after spring training it wanted him to use his speed.
“We just want him, when he puts the ball in play, to put pressure on the defense,” Brown said, “from the time the ball’s in play. If they stop him at first base, there’s still pressure on the defense because they know he can steal a bag. That’s what he brings every day.”
Miller’s speed was sapped during a May 24 loss to the Midland RockHounds when his hamstring tightened up after he planted his foot running around second base. Miller’s hamstring later “balled up” after he tried to run down a flyball in center field, and he missed the next 11 games with the injury.
Brown penciled in Miller as the designated hitter Wednesday, when he went 2 for 5 with a stolen base in a 7-4 loss to the Drillers.
“[Brown] was clear in communication with me,” Miller said. “ ‘We want to get you back in the lineup, DH you, get the feel down for that first, and when you’re comfortable with that, we’ll put you in the outfield.’ ”
Miller returned to center field Thursday night, when he went 2 for 4 with his fourth home run of the year in the Travs’ 6-1 victory over the Drillers. He was held out of the lineup Friday night, although he was healthy.
“Where I want to be is the big leagues,” Miller said. “I think eventually if I keep playing this way and playing as hard as I am, I’ll get there.”
Perhaps, for his allergy’s sake, there will be a turf field.
Today’s game
TRAVELERS AT NATURALS
WHEN 6:35 p.m.
WHERE Arvest Ballpark, Springdale RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in central Arkansas
WEBSITE travs.com
PITCHERS Travelers: RHP Tyler Herb (4-2, 3.78 ERA); Drillers: RHP Ashton Goudeau (2-5, 4.79 ERA)
THE WEEK AHEAD
TODAY at NW Arkansas, 6:35 p.m. SUNDAY at NW Arkansas, 2:05 p.m. MONDAY at NW Arkansas, 7:05 p.m. TUESDAY at NW Arkansas, 12:05 p.m. WEDNESDAY at Springfield, 5:10 p.m. (DH)
THURSDAY at Springfield, 7:10 p.m. FRIDAY at Springfield, 7:10 p.m.