Ralph Milliard

Ralph Gregory Milliard (born 30 December 1973) is a Dutch-Curaçaoan former baseball player and baseball coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins (1996–1997) and New York Mets. Milliard played for the Netherlands national team in two Summer Olympics and other international tournaments. At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he and his team placed fifth. Four years later at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, they placed sixth.

Early life Milliard started playing baseball at age four in his native country Curaçao. When he was nine, he moved with his family to Soest, Utrecht, where he played with the Knickerbockers club in the youth divisions.

Playing career Milliard was selected at age 14 to be part of the Netherlands national youth team, the Cadetten. At age 16, he moved to HCAW and played at the highest Dutch league, the Honkbal Hoofdklasse, and developed into a talented shortstop and second baseman.

Florida Marlins In 1992, Milliard signed a contract with the Florida Marlins. He played in total ten seasons as a professional, three of which were in MLB. His strong point was his superb fielding as a shortstop and second baseman. In his first professional season, he tied for the Gulf Coast League lead with 15 doubles in 1993. He was a Midwest League All-Star in 1994, leading the league with 97 runs scored. He played in the Double-A All-Star Game in 1995 and led the Eastern League with 104 runs, a Portland Sea Dogs record. He played in the Arizona Fall League in 1994 and 1995, with league managers selecting him as the best second base prospect in 1995. Milliard began the 1996 season in Triple-A, batting .291 in 23 games.

Milliard debuted in the major leagues for the Marlins on 12 May 1996. He was the second player from Curaçao, after Hensley Meulens, to reach MLB

In February 1999, New York traded him to the Reds for Mark Corey. He played in Double-A that year but was limited to 32 games due to a strained back and later a left thumb ligament strain.

Milliard played for HCAW in the Hoofdklasse from 2001 to 2008. In eight games, he batted .174 with one triple and one stolen base. He batted .217 in the 2002 Haarlem Baseball Week. He hit .188 in the 2002 Intercontinental Cup. During the 2004 Haarlem Baseball Week, he played in every game at second base and won the prize for the best defensive player. He had 10 putouts and 19 assists with no errors during the tournament. During the 2004 Olympics, he was awarded the prize for best second baseman. He played 75 games for the Netherlands. His last game was in August 2004 against Chinese Taipei during the Olympics.

Coaching career In 2009, Milliard became coach of HCAW's Rookie team, the young players selection who were in the waiting room for the main squad. During winter, he was one of the instructors of the HCAW baseball winter academy for young players. In 2011, he left HCAW and succeeded as one of the coaches for Hoofdklasse team Kinheim. In 2012, the team won the Holland Series weeks after Milliard and manager Eelco Jansen were fired. In 2014, he was head coach of Twins Oosterhout in the Dutch second division. In 2015, he returned to HCAW to lead the team as head coach for one season. In 2017, he was again head coach of the 16-to-21 year-old junior team of HCAW.