#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