#269 Jack Meyer - Philadelphia Phillies

John Robert Meyer
Philadelphia Phillies
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  175
Born:  March 23, 1932, Philadelphia, PA
Signed:  Signed by the Philadelphia Phillies as an amateur free agent before 1951 season
Major League Teams:  Philadelphia Phillies 1955-1961

Died:  March 9, 1967, Philadelphia, PA (age 34)

After pitching for the Wake Forest College (now University) baseball team, Jack Meyer signed with the Phillies in 1951 to begin his professional career.  He spent four seasons working his way up through the Phillies' minor league system, and as a starting pitcher he won at least 12 games each season between 1952 and 1954.  He recorded a league-leading 226 strikeouts in 1953 while pitching for the Class A Schenectady Blue Jays.  Meyer made the Phillies opening day squad in 1955, and was initially inserted into their starting pitching rotation.  Moving to the bullpen permanently in late May, Meyer would record a league-leading 16 saves and finish as runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting behind the Cardinals' Bill Virdon (#170).  Injuries and his participation in extracurricular, late-night activities along with fellow pitchers Turk Farrell and Jim Owens (#114), the "Dalton Gang," limited Meyer's success over the next few seasons.

He'd rebound somewhat in 1958 and 1959, serving as a reliable reliever for the Phillies.  A back injury suffered in 1960 after a postgame drinking binge limited his output to seven games in 1960 and one last game in 1961.  Unable to continue pitching, Meyer retired from baseball at the age of 29 on May 9, 1961.  In 202 games over seven seasons with the Phillies, Meyer was 24-34 with 21 saves and a 3.92 ERA.  He struck out 375 batters over 455 innings pitched.  Sadly, Meyer passed away at the age of 34 after suffering a heart attack.

June 1988 - Dad mowing the lawn on 12th Street

Building the Set
February 27, 1988 in Bridgeton, NJ (Hummel's) - Card #55
My notes indicate we bought this card at Hummel's in Bridgeton, New Jersey in February 1988 along with the Billy Klaus (#217) card.  This was a Saturday, and I'm guessing my Dad and I needed to get out of the house so we made the quick drive to Bridgeton to purchase some baseball cards.  I'm also assuming I was anxious to get my hands on more new packs of 1988 Topps, and we knew Hummel's most likely had a box or two for sale.  My set collecting records show we had completed the 1974 Topps set earlier in the month, we were about half-way through with the 1976 Topps set and we'd start to collect the 1973 Topps set that June.  It was a very good year.

My memories of Hummel's are hazy at best, but I seem to recall it was a large building with a sprawling liquor store on the first floor and a baseball card shop on the second floor.  With baseball card stores booming in the mid to late 1980s, we'd often take a ride to one of the four or five local card shops we were lucky enough to have near us.

The Card / Phillies Team Set
This is Meyer's rookie card and given his status as one of the top rookies in the game, I imagine kids (including my Dad) would have been thrilled to finally find a Meyer card in Series 4 packs of 1956 Topps.  The cartoons on the back highlight his success in 1954 in the minor leagues, his high strikeout rate and his switch to the bullpen during the 1955 season.

1956 Season

Meyer made 41 appearances for the Phillies, going 7-11 with a 4.41 ERA.  As a starter, he was 1-5 in seven starts, with a 4.68 ERA.  On April 29th at the Polo Grounds, Meyer hit a 10th inning home run off Giants' reliever Hoyt Wilhelm (#307) to give the Phillies a 5-4 lead and eventually, the win.  He was particularly effective in the month of June, with a 1.47 ERA in 18 1/3 innings pitched.

Phillies Career
I'd highly recommend reading Meyer's full SABR biography, linked below, to get a sense of the self-created destruction the young pitcher put himself through during his brief pitching career.  With some better role models and a little direction, it seems as if Meyer could have been a star pitcher for the Phillies during some the franchise's leaner years.  Robin Roberts (#180) remembered Meyer as having "Nolan Ryan-type stuff with a sharp curveball to go with a blazing fastball."

1957 Topps #162

1958 Topps #186

1959 Topps #269

1960 Topps #64

1961 Topps #111

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1956 Topps #269
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (6):  1956-1961
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1961 Topps #111

13 - Meyer non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/20/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

The Phillies Room

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #268 Dale Mitchell - Cleveland Indians / #270 Billy Loes - Brooklyn Dodgers

Order Collected: #217 Billy Klaus - Boston Red Sox / #69 Chuck Tanner - Milwaukee Braves

#268 Dale Mitchell - Cleveland Indians

Loren Dale Mitchell
Cleveland Indians
Outfield

Bats:  Left  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'1"  Weight:  195
Born:  August 23, 1921, Colony, OK
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1946 season
Major League Teams:  Cleveland Indians 1946-1956; Brooklyn Dodgers 1956

Died:  January 5, 1987, Tulsa, OK (age 65)

After a stellar collegiate career at the University of Oklahoma, where he accumulated a career batting average of .467, Dale Mitchell signed with the Indians in early 1946 and made his big league debut a few months later.  Mitchell settled in as the club's regular left fielder between 1947 and 1953, earning his way onto two All-Star teams and receiving MVP votes in four different seasons.  Mitchell was a member of the World Champion Indians team in 1948, as Cleveland defeated the Boston Braves in six games.  He led the American League in hits (203) and triples (23) in 1949, and put together his strongest seasons in 1952 and 1953.  In 1952, Mitchell batted .323 with 58 RBIs, and he hit a career-high 13 home runs in 1953.  A back-up in 1954, Mitchell appeared in only 53 games, and he made three pinch-hitting appearances in the 1954 World Series in which the Indians were swept by the Giants.  He saw his last major league action with the Dodgers in 1956, appearing with the club in that year's World Series against the Yankees.

August 19, 2023 - Mitchell on the scoreboard during his induction
into the Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame

Mitchell finished his career with 1,244 hits and a .312 average, with only Stan Musial and Ted Williams (#5) having a higher average between 1943 and 1960.  He rarely struck out, and his at-bat/strikeout ratio of 33.5 is currently 14th all-time.  A fine fielder as well, his .986 fielding percentage in left field is currently 45th all-time.  Mitchell was posthumously inducted into the Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame in 2023, and the baseball park at the University of Oklahoma is named in his honor.

Building the Set

Summer of 1983 or 1984 in Millville, NJ - Card #36
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 second of ten cards to come from the final series four.

The Card / Indians Team Set
This won't mean anything to anyone other than my immediate family who happens to read this, but I always felt Mitchell looked like my late Uncle Dick on this card.  Mitchell returns to the Topps set here after a two-year absence as he had appeared exclusively with Bowman in 1954 and 1955.  This is also his final Topps flagship set appearance.  The fielder in the action shot looks like a Yankees player, so it could be Gil McDougald (#225), Phil Rizzuto (#113) or Billy Hunter, among others.

The first cartoon panel on the back is pretty cool, with Williams and Bill Skowron (#61) making cameo appearances.  Skowron's inclusion is questionable, as he only had two seasons under his belt, but he did have a .328 average following the 1955 season.  Williams was batting .348 for his career through 1955, and Mitchell was at .314.  The final cartoon panel is interesting too, as I've never heard of fielding percentage referred to as "infielding."  Mitchell led the league in 1948 and 1949 with marks of .991 and .994.

1956 Season

Mitchell began the season with the Indians, where he was used exclusively as a pinch-hitter, save for one appearance in left field.  In 38 games with Cleveland, he batted .133 (4 for 30) and was sold to the Dodgers on July 29th.  With his new club, again almost entirely as a pinch-hitter, Mitchell appeared in 19 games and batted a more respectable .292 (7 for 24).  He was included on the Dodgers' World Series roster, and made four pinch-hitting appearances against the Yankees, going 0 for 4.  Mitchell pinch-hit for pitcher Sal Maglie in the top of the ninth of Game 6 against Don Larsen (#332), and he struck out looking to clinch Larsen's perfect game.

1949 Bowman #43

1951 Bowman #5

1952 Topps #92

1953 Topps #26

1955 Bowman #314

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1949 Bowman #43
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (4):  1951-1953, 1956
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1991 Topps Archives 1953 #26

54 - Mitchell non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/20/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #267 Bob Nieman - Chicago White Sox / #269 Jack Meyer - Philadelphia Phillies

Order Collected: #263 Bob Miller - Detroit Tigers / #273 Walker Cooper - St. Louis Cardinals

#267 Bob Nieman - Chicago White Sox

Robert Charles Nieman
Chicago White Sox
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  195
Born:  January 26, 1927, Cincinnati, OH
Signed:  Signed by the Cincinnati Reds as an amateur free agent before 1948 season
Major League Teams:  St. Louis Browns 1951-1952; Detroit Tigers 1953-1954; Chicago White Sox 1955-1956; Baltimore Orioles 1956-1959; St. Louis Cardinals 1960-1961; Cleveland Indians 1961-1962; San Francisco Giants 1962

Died:  March 10, 1985, Corona, CA (age 58)

The first thing that struck me about Bob Nieman's major league career is that he didn't seem to stick around very long with any one team.  His longest stint without switching teams came in the late 1950s with the Orioles between mid-1956 and 1959.  Before that, he was a regular with the Browns, Tigers and White Sox and his big league debut with the Browns in 1951 was one for the record books.  On September 14, 1951 against the Red Sox in Fenway Park, Nieman homered in his first two at-bats against Mickey McDermott (#340).  He became the first player in Major League history with two home runs in his debut game, a feat since accomplished by four other players.

Nieman's best years came with the Orioles.  He batted .322 with 12 home runs and 64 RBIs following a trade to Baltimore in May 1956, and in 1959, he clubbed a career best 21 home runs.  He departed Baltimore following the 1959 season, bouncing around again from the Cardinals to the Indians and finally to the Giants.  Serving almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter in 1962 with San Francisco, Nieman batted .300 for the season and saw his only World Series action, walking in Game 4 as a pinch-hitter against the Yankees.  The Yankees would prevail over the Giants in seven games.  Nieman spent the 1963 season with the Chunichi Dragons in Japan before retiring.  Over 12 major league seasons, Nieman batted .295 with 125 home runs and 544 RBIs.  He'd later serve as a scout for the Indians, Dodgers, Athletics, White Sox and Yankees.

Building the Set
September 25, 2005 in Ft. Washington, PA - Card #268
This was a late edition to our set and one of 11 cards we purchased at the 92nd Philadelphia Sports Card Show held at the convention center in Ft. Washington.  My records show we paid $7 for this card. With the Ocean City baseball card shows long gone by now, our only options for local baseball card shows were the "Philly Shows" held in Ft. Washington at the time or the occasional mall baseball card show.

August 14, 2005 - Dad and me at Yankee Stadium

My Dad didn't like the drive to Ft. Washington, and this would have been one of only a few shows we attended together in this location.  Our next show together was a few months later in December, also in Ft. Washington.  Looking at my records of when and where we purchased our cards, a full year would go by before we'd add any more cards to the set after that December show.

The year-long hiatus in collecting the set came at a time my wife and I were expecting our first son and as we moved into our first real house, so we had a pretty good excuse not to be purchasing baseball cards at the time.

The Card / White Sox Team Set
Nieman's rookie card can be found in the 1955 Bowman set, and this is his first Topps card.  If the runner sliding into second base is in fact Nieman, the photo was taken while he was with the Tigers, wearing #5 in either 1953 or 1954.  With the White Sox, Nieman wore #18.  The back of the card rightfully highlights the two home runs he hit during his big league debut.  The final cartoon panel covers his fielding skills, and Nieman had five double plays as an outfielder in 1952, tying him with Mickey Mantle (#135) and Faye Throneberry.

1956 Season

Nieman began the season with the White Sox, appearing in 14 games and batting .300 (12 for 40), making 10 starts in right field.  On May 21st, Nieman, Mike Fornieles, Connie Johnson (#326) and George Kell (#195) were traded to the Orioles for Dave Philley (#222) and Jim Wilson (#171).  Nieman started off hot for the Orioles, batting .308 with five home runs and 30 RBIs in his first 37 games with the club, through the end of June.  He assumed the everyday left fielder's job and was arguably the team's MVP, leading the way with a 4.0 bWAR.  His .320 average was fifth best in the league and he finished seventh in the year's MVP voting.

1955 Bowman #145

1957 Topps #14

1959 Topps #375

1961 Topps #178

1962 Topps #182

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1955 Bowman #145
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (7):  1956-1962
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1979 TCMA The 1950s #211

32 - Nieman non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 11/19/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database

SABR
The Trading Card Database

Wikipedia

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Set Order: #266 Don Ferrarese - Baltimore Orioles / #268 Dale Mitchell - Cleveland Indians

Order Collected: #239 Harry Simpson - Kansas City Athletics / #300 Vic Wertz - Cleveland Indians

#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

Previous Card / Next Card

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

Previous Card / Next Card

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 Set

December 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

Previous Card / Next Card

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