John “Dots” Miller enjoyed an exceptional rookie year, helping the Pirates win the World Series in 1909. He joined the Cardinals in 1914, but his baseball career was interrupted when he joined the Marines in 1918, where he fought overseas as a sharpshooter.
He returned to the Cardinals for the 1919 season, and during a series with the Phillies signed an autograph book, from which this signature was clipped. Unfortunately, Miller died in 1923 at the early age of 36 after contracting tuberculosis, and his signature is basically nonexistent in the hobby. And amazingly, Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby signed the back of the page directly under Miller and his autograph can be seen vividly on the other side.
So I built my first ever “Double-header” custom, where you can flip this over and see Hornsby’s 1933 Goudey card with his signature underneath. To frame the signatures I have included an authentic box score and game text from a 1919 newspaper, featuring a Cardinals game with Miller playing 1st and batting second with 3 hits and Hornsby at 3rd batting fourth with 4 hits.
