#227 Russ Meyer - Chicago Cubs

Russell Charles Meyer
Chicago Cubs
Pitcher

Bats:  Both  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  175
Born:  October 25, 1923, Peru, IL
Signed:  Signed by the Chicago White Sox as an amateur free agent before 1942 season
Major League Teams:  Chicago Cubs 1946-1948; Philadelphia Phillies 1949-1952; Brooklyn Dodgers 1953-1955; Chicago Cubs 1956; Cincinnati Reds 1956; Boston Red Sox 1957; Kansas City Athletics 1959

Died:  November 16, 1997, Oglesby, IL (age 74)

Given the nickname "Mad Monk" for his antics early in life, the moniker proved prescient for Russ Meyer as he often found himself in trouble on and off the field as a result of a fiery temper.  Meyer began his big league career with the Cubs and would enjoy his best season in 1949 after Chicago sold him to the Phillies.  Meyer was 17-8 with a 3.08 ERA that year for the surging Phillies, and he'd be the third most used starting pitcher for the Whiz Kids of 1950 behind Robin Roberts (#180) and Curt Simmons (#290).  He pitched 1 2/3 innings in the 1950 World Series, with the Yankees prevailing in four games.  Meyer joined the Dodgers in 1953, where he was a 15-game winner for the pennant-winning club.  He won a World Series ring with Brooklyn in 1955, pitching 5 2/3 innings of scoreless relief in Game 6 following an early exit by Karl Spooner (#83).

Meyer would pitch in parts of three more seasons in the majors, retiring as a player following the 1959 campaign and a brief stint with the Athletics.  He was 94-73 lifetime with a 3.99 ERA in 319 games pitched.  Meyer would later serve as a minor league pitching coach for the Yankees and was on Buck Showalter's coaching staff for the club for one season in 1992.

January 27, 2007 - Celebrating the 63rd

Building the Set
February 7, 2007 in Voorhees, NJ - Card #293
This is one of six cards I purchased at the Echelon Mall Baseball Card show in February 2007, spending $70 total, including $7.50 on this Meyer card.  At the time, Doug was a few days away from turning two months old and we had just celebrated my Dad's 63rd birthday a few weeks earlier.

I think Jenna had been out shopping on this day when she texted (or called) me to let me know there was a baseball card show being held at what used to be the Echelon Mall.  The former mall has since been converted as part of the Voorhees Town Center. 

The Card / Cubs Team Set
Meyer is definitely wearing a Dodgers uniform in both photos here, and Topps altered his hat logo to designate his new team.  This card marks his return to Topps sets for the first time since 1952, and he's got Dodgers cards in the 1953, 1954 and 1955 Bowman sets.  He'd skip a few more years after this, receiving his final Topps card in the 1959 set.  The final cartoon panel on the back highlights his return to Chicago following stints with Philadelphia and Brooklyn.

1956 Season

Following the 1955 World Series, Meyer, Don Hoak (#335) and Walt Moryn were traded to the Cubs for Don Elston and Randy Jackson (#223).  In his return to Chicago, Meyer didn't fare well, going 1-6 with a 6.32 ERA in 20 games, including nine starts.  Placed on waivers at the start of September, he was claimed by the Reds where he'd pitch in just one game, for one scoreless inning, on September 12th.

Phillies Career
On October 11, 1948, the Phillies purchased Meyer from the Cubs for $20,000, and he immediately was moved to the team's starting pitching rotation, joining Ken Heintzelman, Simmons and Roberts at the start of the season.  Both Heintzelman and Meyer would be 17 game winners, with Roberts winning 15.  Meyer's career year included 14 complete games, two shutouts and a save for good measure.  Roberts gleaned quite a bit of material from Meyer for his eventual autobiography, and Meyer's SABR biography (linked below) includes some of the more colorful stories as told by Roberts.  In the 1950 World Series, Meyer was the losing pitcher in Game 3, surrendering the winning run following three straight Yankees' singles in the ninth inning.

Meyer would spend two more seasons with the Phillies, winning eight games in 1951 and 13 games in 1952.  On February 16, 1953, he was shipped to the Dodgers as part of a four-team trade that saw Earl Torgeson (#147) come to the Phillies from the Braves.  Meyer played for six different teams during his big league career with his 134 games for the Phillies nearly doubling the next closest total of 76 games played with the Cubs.  He was 47-42 with a 3.64 ERA over 773 innings pitched for the Phillies, wearing #34 decades before the club retired the number in honor of Roy Halladay.

1951 Bowman #75

1952 Topps #339

1953 Bowman Color #129

1955 Bowman #196

1959 Topps #482

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1951 Bowman #75
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3):  1952, 1956, 1959
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2005 Topps Dem Bums #DB-RM

37 - Meyer non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/23/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #226 New York Giants Team Card / #228 "Mickey" Vernon - Boston Red Sox

Order Collected: #177 Hank Bauer - New York Yankees / #312 Andy Parfko - Milwaukee Braves

#226 New York Giants Team Card

Topps included full team photos in its baseball card set for the first time in 1956, having previously experimented with team cards in a limited edition 1951 stand-alone set.

Building the Set
December 2, 2000 from Raleigh, NC - Card #217
I went nuts and bought 16 cards for our 1956 Topps set on this day at the Sports Card & NASCAR Collectibles Show in Raleigh.  My records show the 16 cards set me back $55 which I would have considered to be a small fortune back then.  I hadn't yet moved back north yet, so I was still living in Raleigh at this time planning for my eventual escape.  I would have provided my Dad with an updated checklist following this show as he was back in New Jersey.

The Card / Giants Team Set

Listed below are the players, coaches, and club personnel featured on the card.  The photo was taken at some point in early 1956 as Ernie Bowman was signed prior to the season.  On June 14, 1956, Al Dark (#148) (strangely not in the photo), Ray Katt, Don Liddle (#325) and Whitey Lockman (#205) were dealt to the Cardinals with the Giants receiving six players in return, including second baseman Red Schoendienst (#165) and catcher Bill Sarni (#247).

The clubhouse custodian's last name is Logan, and there shouldn't be a comma between Custodian and Logan on the third row of text.

Front Row Whitey Lockman (#205) Sid Gordon Willie Mays (#130) Coach Frank Shellenback Manager Leo Durocher Coach Herman Franks Coach Fred Fitzsimmons Paul Giel Don Liddle (#325)

2nd Row Roger Bowman Don Mueller (#241) Wayne Terwilliger (#73) Windy McCall (#44) Foster Castleman (#271) Joey Amalfitano Jim Constable Ray Katt Clubhouse Custodian Ed Logan

Back Row Bobby Hofman (#28) Billy Gardner Bill Taylor Jim Hearn (#202) Ramon Monzant (#264) Ruben Gomez (#9) Marv Grissom (#301) Hoyt Wilhelm (#307) Gail Harris (#91) Dusty Rhodes (#50) Hank Thompson (#199)

The back of the card celebrates the fact the Giants had won more pennants than any other National League team up until 1955.  Through 2022, the Giants are one behind the Dodgers with the Dodgers holding a slim 24-23 lead.  Franchise legends and Hall of Famers John McGraw (1902-1932), Christy Matthewson (1900-1916), Roger Bresnahan (1902-1908), Rube Marquard (1908-1915), Frankie Frisch (1919-1926), Travis Jackson (1922-1936), Bill Terry (1923-1936), Mel Ott (1926-1947) and Carl Hubbell (1928-1943) are all mentioned too.

Here are the updated statistical categories through the 2022 season, adding the three additional World Championships the Giants have won in the past 66 years.

Most Home Runs - 241 in 2021

Most Double Plays - 183 in 1987

Most Games Won - 107 in 2021

Additional Pennant Winning Teams - 1962, 1971, 1987, 1989, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2021
Additional Championship Teams - 2010, 2012, 2014

The Polo Grounds is fascinating to me, and I can't imagine what it would have been like to watch a ballgame from any of the seats located beyond the outfield walls.

1956 Season
Manager Leo Durocher was let go following the 1955 season and eight years at the helm for the Giants.  His replacement was 38-year-old Bill Rigney, who would lead the Giants, Angels and Twins over a managerial career spanning 18 years.  Rigney guided his new team to a 67-87 finish, sixth place in the National League.  Willie Mays (#130) was again the star attraction for the club, leading the league with 40 stolen bases and leading the Giants with 36 home runs and 84 RBIs.  Rookie Bill White was second on the team with 22 home runs.

Staff ace Johnny Antonelli (#138), also strangely missing from the team photo, was 20-13 with a 2.86 ERA in 41 games pitched, throwing 258 1/3 innings.  No other Giants pitcher won ten games.  The team's top reliever was Hoyt Wilhelm (#307), who pitched 89 1/3 innings over 64 appearances, saving eight games.

Giants Cards That Never Were
There are some easy choices here and if I were put in charge of a fifth series for the set, listed below are the additional Giants cards I'd include.  Sarni and Schoendienst came over the Cardinals in June as mentioned above, and both settled into regular playing roles with the Giants.  I've got seven subjects listed below and I may need to cull that list down if I want equal team representation in my imagery fifth series.

• Bill Rigney (manager) - Rigney had last appeared in a Topps set in 1952 as an infielder with the Giants.
• Bill Sarni (catcher) - Sarni and Schoendienst would get proper Giants cards in the 1957 Topps set.
• Red Schoendienst (second base)
• Bill White (first base) - White would go on to have a 13-year big league playing career, with his rookie card not appearing until the 1959 Topps set.  He was the National League President between 1989 and 1994.
• Jackie Brandt (left field) - Brandt, the team's most regularly used left fielder, would also have to wait to 1959 for his rookie card.
• Al Worthington (starting pitcher) - Worthington was 7-14 in 28 games for the Giants.
• Joe Margoneri (starting pitcher) - And Margoneri was 6-6 in 23 games.

Sources

Baseball Reference

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #225 Gil McDougald - New York Yankees / #227 Russ Meyer - Chicago Cubs

Order Collected: #206 Erv Palica - Baltimore Orioles / #237 Jose Valdivielso - Washington Nationals

#225 Gil McDougald - New York Yankees

Gilbert James McDougald
New York Yankees
Second Base-Third Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  175
Born:  May 19, 1928, San Francisco, CA
Signed:  Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent before 1948 season
Major League Teams:  New York Yankees 1951-1960

Died:  November 28, 2010, Monmouth County, NJ (age 82)

Gil McDougald's decade in baseball, all with the Yankees, included winning the American League Rookie of the Year award in 1951, attending six All-Star Games, playing in eight World Series and winning five World Championships.  In his rookie season, McDougald made 107 starts between third and second base while batting .306 with 14 stolen bases, a career-high 14 home runs and 63 RBIs.  He became the first rookie to hit a grand slam in the World Series, hitting his blast off the Giants' Larry Jansen in 1951's Game 5.  McDougald made his first of six All-Star teams in 1952, returning in 1956, 1957, 1958 and both games in 1959.  His best season came in 1957 when he batted .289 while leading the league with nine triples and 19 sacrifice bunts.  

August 16, 1987 - Cooperstown, NY

McDougald will forever be linked with Indians' pitcher Herb Score (#140), as a line drive off his bat struck Score in the right eye on September 10, 1958.  Score suffered several facial bone fractures, and the injury may have shortened his pitching career.  A steady fielder throughout his career, McDougald appeared in 596 games at second base, 512 games at third base and 284 games at shortstop, with his .984 fielding percentage as a second baseman 54th on the all-time list.

He retired following the 1960 World Series, having appeared in 1,336 games and collecting 1,291 hits, 112 home runs and 576 RBIs.  McDougald batted .237 (45 for 190) in 53 World Series games, with seven home runs and 24 RBIs.  Following his major league career, McDougald was the head baseball coach at Fordham University between 1970 and 1976, a position he'd resign due to his worsening hearing loss.  He successfully received a cochlear implant in 1994, restoring his hearing and making him a strong proponent of the procedure for others suffering hearing loss.

Building the Set
August 16, 1987 from Cooperstown, NY - Card #45
This was the first card we purchased in the summer of 1987, officially marking the beginning of us collecting the 1956 Topps set.  As told now frequently in our set's origin story, and most recently with the post for the Early Wynn (#187) card, I was essentially gifted with a shoebox of vintage Topps baseball cards in the summer of 1983 or 1984.  Within the spoils were 44 cards from the 1956 Topps set – by far the most cards from any one set.  I studied them, I sorted them, and I pretty much memorized every detail of those 44 cards.  

A few years later, in the summer of 1987 while on a family vacation, I was giddy with excitement when we came across a few 1956 Topps cards in the Walker Gallery on the main drag in Cooperstown, New York.  It was our first trip to Cooperstown, and details from that family vacation still make up several of my most important core memories from my childhood.  My Dad and I studied the cards for sale and he casually asked me the question, “Why don’t we try to put together the whole set?” We bought four cards that day for $9.25, including this McDougald card which was all of $3.  Those cards, along with the 44 from the magic shoebox, became the basis for our 1956 Topps set.

That small but incredibly meaningful purchase meant so much to me that I tacked a Walker Gallery business card to my bulletin board in my bedroom on 12th Street, where it hung for years.

The Card / Yankees Team Set
McDougald was featured exclusively in the Bowman sets in 1954 and 1955, and this is his first Topps appearance since 1953.  The action photo shows McDougald just after he made a relay throw to first base to presumably complete a double play.  

His grand slam from the 1951 World Series is highlighted in the first cartoon panel on the back.  The middle panel showcases his league leading fielding percentage and double play totals.  McDougald led all second baseman in fielding percentage only once with a .985 mark in 1955.  He led the league in double plays turned three times, at three different positions - in 1952 as a third baseman, in 1955 as a second baseman and in 1957 as a shortstop.  Manager Casey Stengel makes an uncredited cameo appearance in the final cartoon panel.

Topps reprinted this card in the 2002 Topps Archives set.

1956 Season

McDougald appeared in 120 games overall, making 88 starts at shortstop, 24 starts at second base and four starts at third base.  He batted a career-high .311 for the pennant-winning Yankees, with 13 home runs and 56 RBIs.  In his second All-Star Game berth, McDougald didn't make it into that year's game at Washington's Griffith Stadium.  In the World Series, he played every inning of all seven games at shortstop, batting just .143 (3 for 21).  But he made one of the top defensive plays in Game 5, fielding a hard line drive in the hole, deflected off the glove of Andy Carey (#12) and smoked off the bat of Jackie Robinson (#30), throwing out Robinson at first base and preserving Don Larsen's (#332) eventual perfect game.  The Yankees would win the series in seven games.

1952 Topps #372

1954 Bowman #97

1957 Topps #200

1959 Topps #345

1960 Topps #247

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1952 Bowman #33
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1952-1953, 1956-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2016 Panini Diamond Kings #31

252 - McDougald non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/5/22.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #224 "Bud" Podbielan - Cincinnati Redlegs / #226 New York Giants Team Card

Order Collected: #340 Mickey McDermott - New York Yankees / #229 Harry Brecheen CO - Baltimore Orioles