Minneapolis Millers

Minneapolis Millers 1884–1960 (1884, 1886 – 1891, 1894 – 1960) Minneapolis
Cap insignia
Class-level
Previous	Triple-A (1946–1960) Double-A (1908–1945) A (1902–1907)
Minor league affiliations
League	American Association (1902–1960)
Previous leagues	Western League (1901) American League (1900) Western League (1894–1899) Western Association (1888–1891) Northwestern League (1884), (1886–1887)
Major league affiliations
Previous	Boston Red Sox (1958–1960) New York Giants (1946–1957) Boston Red Sox (1936–1938)
Minor league titles
League titles	1896, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1915, 1932, 1935, 1955, 1958, 1959
Team data
Previous names	Minneapolis Millers
Previous parks	Metropolitan Stadium Nicollet Park, Athletic Park

The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, until 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in Athletic Park and later Nicollet Park.

The name Minneapolis Millers has been associated with a variety of professional minor league teams. The original Millers date back to 1884 when the Northwestern League was formed. This league failed and the Western League replaced it, absorbing some of the old teams. According to Stew Thornley, this team folded in 1891 due to financial problems. In 1894, another team calling itself the Millers was formed when Ban Johnson and Charles Comiskey revived the Western League in hopes of making it a second major league. The Millers continued to play in the Western League through 1900, when the name was changed to the American League to give it more of a national image. Following the 1900 season, several cities were abandoned for bigger markets in cities recently vacated by the National League, including Minneapolis. Some teams were transferred, as was the case of the Kansas City franchise to become the Washington Nationals (Senators). However, some of the teams were just left out in the dark. It is unclear which of these two paths the Millers took, but most evidence seems to point toward abandonment, not a transfer to Baltimore, especially given that no player for the 1900 Millers played for the 1901 Orioles.

Several teams went by the nickname Millers, but the most prominent of these was the team in the American Association from 1902 to 1960. The Millers won four Association pennants during the 1910–23 tenure of "Pongo Joe" Cantillon, then were managed from 1924–31 by another legend, Michael Joseph Kelley, one of the great figures of American Association history. Kelley operated the team as club president until 1946. Broadcaster Halsey Hall was the Millers' play-by-play man from 1933 until the club folded in 1960 to make way for the Minnesota Twins.