Grass allergy fails to slow Travs’ CF

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.