Port Charlotte, Fla. – With a College World Series win in one pocket and an engagement ring in the other, Tampa Bay Rays prospect Brian Miller had the moment of a lifetime.
On the day that Vanderbilt defeated Virginia for the 2014 NCAA Division 1 Men’s Baseball Championship, the then 21-year old asked his girlfriend to marry him. As the team was celebrating their victory, he made his way over to the dugout to embrace his girlfriend Megan, and pop the question.
The idea for this type of proposal actually came from a bet that Miller had made with his teammate, Tyler Beede, on the first day of the season. Beede challenged Miller to do it on national television and he ran with the idea.
“My friend Tyler said to me ‘you wont propose to Megan on the field of the College World Series after we win,’” Miller said. “So I took the challenge and told him, ‘Okay, I will!’”
This wasn’t a spur of the moment thing; it was in the works long before then. He knew that this woman was the one for him and had already been preparing a proposal in the near future.
“I had planned to propose to her that summer,” said Miller, “some of my good friends knew that I was going to propose to her.”
The Franklin, Tenn. native knew he was going to go through with it after the game was done, but maintaining focus on the game was first on the pitcher’s list of priorities.
“Leading up to that moment, that decision when I actually did it, I honestly wasn’t thinking about it that much,” said Miller, “We had a game to play.”
The team trainer played an integral part in the whole operation because he was the one who held the ring for Miller during the game.
“I gave the ring to the trainer early on and I just said, ‘Keep this, I’m not going to think about it,” Miller said, “Then after the game I’m going to come get it from you when we win.’”
Asked how he would sum up that whirlwind of a day, Miller beamed with excitement.
“That night was crazy with so many emotions,” Miller said, “It was just crazy and fun.“
This was definitely a major milestone in the life of the athlete, but now there is baseball to be played.
In 2015, the first year of the 15th round pick’s minor league career, Miller pitched in 38 games for the Bowling Green Hot Rods (Class A) putting up a 1.85 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and allowed 12 earned runs over 58.1 innings.