#266 Don Ferrarese - Baltimore Orioles

Donald Hugh Ferrarese
Baltimore Orioles
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  5'9"  Weight:  170
Born:  June 19, 1929, Oakland, CA
Acquired:  Purchased by the Chicago White Sox from the Oakland Oaks (Pacific Coast League), December 6, 1954
Major League Teams:  Baltimore Orioles 1955-1957; Cleveland Indians 1958-1959; Chicago White Sox 1960; Philadelphia Phillies 1961-1962; St. Louis Cardinals 1962

As a starting pitcher for the Oakland Oaks in the Pacific Coast League, Don Ferrarese's 1954 season caught the attention of major league teams when he went 18-15 with a 3.74 ERA and 184 strikeouts over 250 innings pitched.  Those wins, strikeouts and innings pitched marks would be the highest of his professional career.  Debuting with the Orioles in 1955, Ferrarese would spend parts of the next eight seasons as a swingman for five different clubs.  His best seasons came with the Indians in 1958 (3-4, 3.71 ERA in 94 2/3 innings pitched) and with the Phillies in 1961 (5-12, 3.76 ERA, 89 strikeouts in 138 2/3 innings pitched).  He closed out his career with the Cardinals, appearing in 38 games, all in relief, in 1962. 

From the 1961 Phillies Yearbook - Second Edition

Ferrarese was 19-36 lifetime in 183 major league games, with a 4.00 ERA and 350 strikeouts over 506 2/3 innings pitched.

Building the Set
December 25, 2003 from San Diego, CA (Kit Young Cards) - Card #246
My Dad/Santa brought me nine cards for our set for Christmas in 2003, with all but one of the cards coming from his dealer of choice, Kit Young Cards in San Diego.  The Brooklyn Dodgers team card (#166) was the lone non-Kit Young Cards addition, as that card came from TemDee in Turnersville, New Jersey.  It was a strange mix of commons from Kit Young Cards, with no semi-star or star card to balance out the lot.  We were admittedly in a lull collecting the set, with only 18 cards added during all of 2003 and only six cards added, as Christmas presents, in 2004.

Pictures from the Christmas of 2003 show us opening gifts at my Mom's house on December 26th, which has since become a tradition for us.  So while the official set records indicate these nine cards were added on December 25th, it was most likely a day later I opened the cards while in Millville.

The Card / Orioles Team Set
Ferrarese's rookie card can be found in the 1955 Topps set, and it uses the same main photo as this card.  A "2" can be seen on the back of his jersey in the action shot, but according to his Baseball Reference page, Ferrarese wore #46, #39 and #37 during his Orioles career.  The first two cartoons on the back of the card highlight his minor league career, and the final panel predicts Ferrarese will "help the Orioles move up to the first division in '56."  That didn't quite happen, as Paul Richards' club improved over its 1955 record, but still finished with a 69-85 record.

1956 Season

Ferrarese spent all of 1956 on the Orioles' pitching staff, his first professional season that didn't include a minor league stint.  In 36 games, including 14 starts, he was 4-10 with a 5.03 ERA in 102 innings pitched.  The Orioles finished in sixth place in the American League, and Ferrarese was one of several innings-eaters on their staff.  Seven different Orioles pitchers threw at least 100 innings that season.

Phillies Career
On April 1, 1961, the White Sox sold Ferrarese to the Phillies.  As mentioned above, this was one of his best big league seasons, despite the 5-12 record.  Behind Art Mahaffey, Ferrarese was the best performing pitcher on the team's staff, as Gene Mauch's Phillies lost a near franchise-record 107 games.  Only the 1928 Phillies and three teams from the 1940s lost more than that.  The bullpen was used frequently during the season, with Frank Sullivan (#71), Ferrarese and Dallas Green seeing the most action.  Ferrarese began the 1962 season in the Phillies bullpen, but after five appearances was dealt to the Cardinals for pitcher Bobby Locke on April 28th.  In 47 games with the Phillies, including 14 starts, he was 5-13 with a 3.96 ERA.

He appeared in the 1961 Topps set as a member of the Phillies.  His 1962 Topps card shows him wearing a Phillies jersey, but with his new team designation, the Cardinals.

1955 Topps #185

1957 Topps #146

1959 Topps #247

1961 Topps #558

1962 Topps #547

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Topps #185
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (8):  1955-1962
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1962 Topps #547

19 - Ferrarese non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/14/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Phillies Room

The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #265 Sandy Consuegra - Chicago White Sox / #267 Bob Nieman - Chicago White Sox

Order Collected: #232 "Toby" Atwell - Pittsburgh Pirates / #278 Chet Nichols - Milwaukee Braves

#265 Sandy Consuegra - Chicago White Sox

Sandalio Simeon Consuegra
Chicago White Sox
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  165
Born:  September 3, 1920, Potrerillos, Cuba
Acquired:  Sent from Puebla (Mexican) to the Washington Nationals in an unknown transaction before 1949 season
Major League Teams:  Washington Senators 1950-1953; Chicago White Sox 1953-1956; Baltimore Orioles 1956-1957; New York Giants 1957

Died:  November 16, 2005, Miami, FL (age 85)

A star pitcher in the 1940s in the amateur baseball leagues of his native Cuba, Sandy Consuegra pitched in parts of eight seasons in the major leagues.  He made his debut with the Senators in 1950, and in five of his next six seasons he'd throw at least 124 innings as a valuable swingman, equally adept at starting or relieving.  He was 6-0 for the Senators in 1952 and in early May 1953 he was sold to the White Sox.  In Chicago, Consuegra had his best three-year span between 1953 and 1955.  He went to the All-Star Game in 1954 and was 16-3 for the season while finishing second in the league with a 2.69 ERA in 154 innings pitched.  He was just as effective in 1955, owing a 2.64 ERA in 44 appearances over 126 1/3 innings pitched.

Consuegra played briefly for the Orioles and Giants over his final two seasons in the majors before retiring and returning to Cuba.  He attempted a brief comeback in 1961 with his old Senators' organization, now re-located to Minnesota as the Twins, but after two minor league games he shut it down again.  In 248 games, Consuegra was 51-32 with a 3.37 ERA and 28 saves.

Building the Set
January 18, 2003 in Plymouth Meeting, PA - Card #240
In January 2003, I added seven cards to our set, purchased at a baseball card show held inside the Plymouth Meeting Mall.  I paid $45 for the seven cards, which included this pristine Consuegra card.  My Topps set building had stalled out somewhat in 2003 as I had switched over to become primarily a Phillies collector, and I was also spending my disposable income trying to put together the early Topps Heritage sets.  This was the first of only 18 cards we added to our set in 2003, but we did cross the threshold of needing less than 100 cards to complete the set late in the year.

The Card / White Sox Team Set
This is Consuegra's first and only Topps card, after having appeared in Bowman sets every year since 1951.  As far as I know, he's the only player to appear in at least five Bowman sets, but have only one Topps card.  The back of the card calls attention to his 1954 winning percentage and 1952 record of 6-0.  Consuegra always seemed to have a low ERA, but I was struck by the fact that for his career, he usually had more walks in a season than strikeouts.  Lifetime, he struck out 193 while walking 246.

1956 Season

Consuegra began the season with the White Sox, appearing in 28 games and struggling somewhat with a 5.17 ERA in 38 1/3 innings pitched.  On July 24th, he was sold to the Orioles, managed by his former White Sox manager, Paul Richards.  Not wanting to travel to Vancouver, the location of the Orioles' top farm team, Consuegra instead pitched with the Havana Sugar Kings, then the Reds' top farm team.  He was a September call-up by the Orioles, making it into four games.  Between the White Sox and Orioles, Consuegra was 2-3 with a 4.98 ERA in 32 games pitched, including a pair of starts.

1951 Bowman #96

1952 Topps #143

1953 Bowman Color #89

1954 Bowman #166

1955 Bowman #116

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1951 Bowman #96
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1):  1956
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1979 TCMA The 1950s #170

11 - Consuegra non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/7/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #264 Ray Monzant - New York Giants / #266 Don Ferrarese - Baltimore Orioles

Order Collected: #256 Tom Hurd - Boston Red Sox / #287 Bobby Adams - Baltimore Orioles

#264 Ray Monzant - New York Giants

Ramon Segundo Monzant
New York Giants
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  160
Born:  January 4, 1933, Maracaibo, Venezuela
Acquired:  Sent from the Shelby Farmers (Western Carolina League) to the New York Giants in an unknown transaction before 1953 season
Major League Teams:  New York Giants 1954-1957; San Francisco Giants 1958, 1960

Died:  August 10, 2001, Maracaibo, Venezuela (age 68)

Ramon Monzant pitched in parts of six seasons with the Giants, making the trip west with the team when they moved to San Francisco.  Professionally, his best season came in 1953 as a 20-year-old member of the Carolina League's Danville Leafs.  Monzant was 23-6 for the Leafs in 37 games pitched with a 2.73 ERA.  He'd make his debut with the Giants the following July, getting into just six games in 1954 with the big club.  Monzant pitched in 56 games for New York between 1955 and 1957, making 15 starts and throwing four complete games.  He'd see the most action of his big league career in 1958 and was one of the Giants' most called-upon relievers along with Stu Miller (#293) and Al Worthington.  Monzant appeared in 43 games overall that year, making 16 starts, and was 8-11 with a 4.72 ERA.  He'd leave the Giants following the 1958 season citing a sore arm and a desire to return to Venezuela.

Monzant made a brief comeback in 1960, appearing in one last game for the Giants and throwing in 40 games for the Triple-A Tacoma club.  In 106 major league games, Monzant was 16-21 with a 4.38 ERA over 316 2/3 innings pitched.

Building the SetDecember 2, 2000 from Raleigh, NC - Card #220
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
This is Monzant's rookie card, the first rookie card to appear in the set's fourth and final series.  By all indications, Monzant preferred his given first name of Ramon, but Topps shortens his name to Ray on his four Topps baseball card appearances.  The back of the card highlights his successful minor league career and makes mention of his swing role with the Giants in 1955.

1956 Season

Monzant pitched in only four games for the Giants in 1956, and in only three games for their farm team in Minneapolis.  On April 29th, in the second game of a double header against the Phillies, Monzant allowed a first inning single to Del Ennis (#220) and then did not allow another hit for the rest of the game.  I'm assuming he likely injured his arm in the long outing, accounting for his limited output during the season.

1958 Topps #447

1959 Topps #332

1960 Topps #338

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #264
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1956, 1958-1960
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1979 The 1950s #199

10 - Monzant non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/6/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #263 Bob Miller - Detroit Tigers / #265 Sandy Consuegra - Chicago White Sox

Order Collected: #258 Art Ditmar - Kansas City Athletics / #302 Eddie Robinson - New York Yankees

#263 Bob Miller - Detroit Tigers

Robert Gerald Miller
Detroit Tigers
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  185
Born:  July 15, 1935, Berwyn, IL
Signed:  Signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent (bonus baby), June 20, 1953
Major League Teams:  Detroit Tigers 1953-56; Cincinnati Reds 1962; New York Mets 1962

Died:  May 24, 2022, St. Charles, IL (age 86)

The Tigers signed two "bonus baby" amateur players in late June 1953 within a day of each other, pitcher Bob Miller for $60,000 and outfielder Al Kaline (#20) for $35,000.  Kaline would go on to have a Hall of Fame career, his #6 ultimately retired by the Tigers.  Miller would find brief success as a teenage reliever for the Tigers, making his big league debut 10 days after his signing and 20 days before his 18th birthday.  His best season came in 1954 when he had a 2.45 ERA in 32 appearances, throwing a career-high 69 2/3 innings and recording 27 strikeouts.  Miller would appear in 63 games overall with the Tigers, almost all of them prior to reaching his 20th birthday, before missing all of 1957 while in military service.

He'd pitch exclusively in the minor leagues for four seasons between 1958 and 1961, making it back to the majors with the Reds for a brief six-game stint in April 1962.  Dealt to the expansion Mets on May 7, 1962 in exchange for Don Zimmer (#99), Miller would appear in the final 17 games of his pitching career, earning a 7.08 ERA in 20 1/3 innings pitched.  In 86 games in parts of five seasons, Miller was 6-8 with a 4.72 ERA.

Building the Set

Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #35
This was one of the Original 44, and I re-told the story of how my Dad and I started collecting this set with the Walt Dropo (#238) post, back in February.  Seven of the Original 44 came from series one, with 11 coming from series two, and 16 from series three.   This is the first of ten cards to come from the final series four.

The Card / Tigers Team Set
This is one of two Bob Miller cards in the set.  The other Bob Miller (#334) was a right-hand pitcher with the Phillies for 10 seasons.  There are two Tigers teammates making a cameo behind Miller's action photo on the card.  #8 would be Ray Boone (#6), who was with the Tigers between 1953 and 1958.  #5 is Bob Nieman (#267) given the photo was likely taken in 1953 or 1954.  The head shot of Miller shows up for the third year in a row, as Topps had used the photo for his 1954 and 1955 cards.  The back of the card highlights his signing by the Tigers and his successful high school career.

1956 Season

Miller didn't see a lot of action with the Tigers, only appearing in 11 games throughout the season.  He was 0-2 with a 5.68 ERA and made three starts.  His longest outing came in relief on September 3rd when he pitched six innings against the White Sox in a losing effort.  With the Charleston Senators, the Tigers' top farm team, Miller was 4-3 in 13 games with a 3.90 ERA.

1954 Topps #241

1955 Topps #9

1962 Topps #572

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1954 Topps #241
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1954-1956, 1962
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1994 Topps Archives 1954 #241

9 - Miller non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/6/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #262 Howie Pollet - Chicago White Sox / #264 Ray Monzant - New York Giants

Order Collected: #255 Bob Lemon - Cleveland Indians / #268 Dale Mitchell - Cleveland Indians