Ramón Monzant

In the minor leagues, Ramón Monzant won 61 games and lost only 25, spanning 784 innings, for a .709 record. No minor leaguer who hurled at least 1,000 innings ever came close to that rate.1 Alas, he was merely mediocre for the New York and San Francisco Giants of the National League, for whom he pitched in 106 games over six seasons from 1954 to 1960. Chronic homesickness for his native Venezuela seemed as plausible an explanation as any for his inability to find consistent success against NL teams.

Ramón Segundo Monzant y Espina was born on January 4, 1933, in Maracaibo, Venezuela,2 to Ramón Monzant y Almarza and the former Corina Espina y Moran. Maracaibo is a large city close to a gulf of the Caribbean Sea, and is the capital of the state of Zulia. Church records show the elder Ramón was baptized in late 1907. He had two younger sisters, but the second died very young. Corina was baptized in 1913, and she apparently had at least nine older siblings, plus two younger ones. The younger Ramón had a sister named Nora Graciela and a brother named Nelson. Two-year-old Nelson died in 1940.

A profile of Monzant late in his career reported that his father was an office worker, and that Ramón junior attended school for six years. During his youth he played some basketball and plenty of baseball. He gravitated toward the latter simply because “that’s what all the fellows were doing,” he said in 1960. He played third base and considered himself “a good hitter,” but his manager decided his powerful throws could make him an effective pitcher.3 Earlier, in 1958, Monzant said his change of position was of necessity. “I had to become a pitcher because my throws from third were too hard for our first baseman,” he said.4 His team was called the Royals, and the manager who moved him to the pitching mound was Heberto Camacho.5

However, in mid-1954 Monzant told one sportswriter he actually didn’t play baseball before age 16. “Then I play all the time,” he said. “Good game, lots of fun.” It’s possible Monzant only meant he started in an organized league at 16, because otherwise he would’ve had just three years of experience before his professional debut in the United States. “I learn to pitch myself,” Monzant said, playing what he called “kid baseball,”6 which may have meant Camacho wasn’t cut out to be a pitching coach. Regardless, the aforementioned profile of Monzant late in his career did refer to him spending only two seasons in amateur baseball prior to a tryout camp he attended in the United States.7

Monzant played with the Orange Victoria and Crosley amateur clubs in Maracaibo, but also traveled between 100 and 300 miles for additional experience. He played on the Deportivo Rubio team in distant San Cristóbal, and with a team in Carora. A very important step in Monzant’s development was connecting with the Navegantes del Magallanes in the Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional. Though there may be no evidence of his actually playing with that team during the winter of 1951-1952, owner Carlos Lavaud enrolled Monzant in a baseball school in the United States directed by Lou Haneles, a minor leaguer from 1936 to 1949.8

Haneles, who could speak Spanish, owned the Florida School of Baseball at Williston, about 100 miles north of Tampa. Paul Florence, a veteran scout of the Cincinnati Reds, watched Monzant pitch a game there in mid-February of 1952. Shortly after the Reds opened their spring-training camp in Tampa on February 25, Florence arranged for Haneles to present Monzant to Cincinnati manager Luke Sewell for a 10-day tryout. “Believing that the boy might be as capable as Haneles touted him, and that if he was some other club would try to wean him away, Red officials threw a cloak of secrecy around him,” The Sporting News reported. “He did have good stuff, especially a puzzling letup ball, while warming up with a catcher.” Monzant’s tryout with the Reds ended after just two innings at the end of an eight-inning intrasquad game on March 7.9

Catching for Monzant was Hobie Landrith, who had played just eight games of a 14-year major-league career. Monzant struck out the first batter he faced, Hank Foiles. Next, career minor leaguer Bob Wilson hit a double. Monzant then issued three straight walks, followed by two hit batsmen. He finally retired a second batter before Foiles batted again, with the bases loaded, and swatted a triple. Wilson was then the third out. Monzant pitched well in his second inning but was cut the next day.10

On March 17 a team from Shelby, North Carolina, of the Class-D Western Carolina League began a few weeks of spring training in Tampa.11 Monzant eventually joined them. The Shelby Farmers played few exhibition games in the Tampa area, and newspaper coverage was minimal.12

The Farmers weren’t affiliated with any major-league team that season, nor were four of the league’s five other franchises. Managing Shelby was Dave Coble, a catcher who had played 15 games for the Phillies in 1939. Only five players in the entire league ever had major-league experience.13

During the regular season, Monzant made his professional debut on April 22, 1952. It was Shelby’s second game and their home opener. They hosted the Rutherford County Owls at night before 2,500 fans. Monzant entered in the seventh inning with the score tied, 6-6. He gave up a run in the eighth but his teammates rallied for three in the bottom half, which produced the final score, 9-7. While winning in his debut, Monzant gave up three hits in three innings and offset a walk with five strikeouts.14

Through June 6, Monzant had a record of 6-4 in 11 games, with 68 strikeouts in 81 innings.15 He won 10 of his next 13 decisions to end the regular season with a record of 16-7. His seventh win, on June 16, was a 3-0 four-hitter.16 Monzant hurled another shutout on September 1 in the first game of the Farmers’ postseason semifinal series, 7-0. He scattered six hits and struck out 11 Owls.17

In the finals, which went the full seven games against Lincolnton, Monzant allowed only three hits but lost the third game, 1-0, on an unearned run. Three days later, with the Farmers down three games to one, he hurled a 4-2 complete-game victory. On September 15 he pitched the final 3 1/3 innings of the finale and helped Shelby win the crown by a score of 4-3.18

A significant milestone for Monzant occurred shortly before September 11, when the New York Giants purchased him for an undisclosed sum that one North Carolina sportswriter said was “the highest price ever paid for a Western Carolina League player.”19 The scout involved was Willie Duke, a recent player-manager for a few minor-league teams in North Carolina.20 On September 19 Monzant signed with the Knoxville Smokies, the Giants’ affiliate in the Class-B Tri-State League. “We paid out a good-sized chunk of money for Monzant,” Smokies business manager Jack Aragon said.21

Monzant returned to Venezuela to play for Magallanes that offseason, and he was one of six pitchers on manager Lázaro Salazar’s Opening Day roster.22 Over the season, other pitchers included Johnny Gray and John Mackinson, both future major leaguers, plus John Hetki, who played eight years in the majors between 1945 and 1954. Monzant was among the four-team league’s pitching leaders with five wins and two losses.23

By early February of 1953, Monzant was on the roster of the Leafs of Danville, Virginia, the Giants’ affiliate in the Class-B Carolina League (instead of Class-B Knoxville).24 In early April he was among nine pitchers working out with the Leafs in Melbourne, Florida. He was described then as a “Ewell Blackwell type of hurler.”25 Blackwell’s SABR biographer described him as “a long, lanky side-arming right-hander.”26

Monzant’s high points during the regular season included three-hitters about five weeks apart. In Fayetteville on May 13, he limited opposing batters to one run on three hits. In his three-hitter at home on June 18, he handcuffed Greensboro, 3-0.27 In early July his record was 12-4, and he received the second-most votes for the league’s all-star teams.28

At the end of the regular season, Monzant had a record of 23-6, led the Carolina League with 232 strikeouts, and was named the circuit’s most valuable player. On September 8 he was the winning pitcher in Danville’s first semifinal playoff game, and on September 14 he hurled a 1-0 shutout in the first game of the finals. He lost a start, but Danville ultimately won the championship, four games to two.29

Danville’s newspaper soon reported that seven players were promoted for the following season. However, only Monzant made the big jump to Minneapolis in the Triple-A American Association. Only one of his Danville teammates later played in the majors, future NL President Bill White, who was a year younger than Monzant.30

That offseason, Monzant went home to play with Magallanes again. He set three league records, 13 strikeouts in a game, 132 in a season, and 15 wins.31

Monzant was married around then. His wife, according to 1956 international travel records, was Rita Monica Diaz de Monzant. She accompanied him to the United States in March of 1954, and apparently remained with him at least through midyear. “She speaks no English and Ramon very little, but they do all right,” wrote Minneapolis Star sportswriter Bob Beebe. “Ramon has no trouble with the signs on the diamond and the waiters seem to understand his signals in the restaurants.”32

In the early days of summer, Monzant had a record of 7-3 for the Minneapolis Millers, with an earned run average of 3.91 and 74 strikeouts in 99 innings. On June 26, at age 21 and in just his third pro season, the Giants brought him up. Manager Leo Durocher started on July 2, 1954, at Pittsburgh.33 Monzant became just the eighth player born in Venezuela to make it to the majors, only one of whom that season, Chico Carrrasquel of the White Sox, was still active at that level.34

The Giants had a record of 48-23 while the Pirates had the opposite, 23-48. Forbes Field held 9,603 fans that day. The first batter Monzant faced was shortstop Gair Allie, who struck out looking. Across Monzant’s first three innings he faced the minimum nine batters. He walked two Pirates but each was erased by a double play. The fourth inning went very differently. Allie led off with a single, and a few batters later, the Pirates had the bases loaded and a run scored, with one out. Monzant then induced a pop fly for the second out, but Durocher pulled him after Dick Cole’s two-run double. Pittsburgh scored once more before the inning ended, and Monzant was charged with four earned runs. However, the Giants eventually won, 9-5.

Monzant pitched five more times for the Giants that month, all in relief. In those four innings there were no earned runs against him, and his ERA decreased to 4.70, but in two appearances he didn’t retire a batter. In late July he was returned to the Millers, with whom he spent the remainder of the season.35 He went 4-4 in his second stint, to finish at 11-7, and his ERA increased somewhat, to 4.42.

Monzant was back with Minneapolis at the start of the 1955 season. On May 30, with a 7-1 record, he was on a plane to rejoin the Giants in the midst of a homestand.36 He started against the Chicago Cubs on June 3 but didn’t finish the third inning and was the losing pitcher. The final score was 4-1, and he gave up three earned runs. His projected start on June 9 was rained out, so his next appearance was a start in Chicago on June 16.37 He gave up only two earned runs in seven innings but the Giants scored only once. After a few relief outings and one more start, he ended June with a record of 0-4 and an ERA of 8.56. At home on July 6, he picked up his first victory in the majors after an unremarkable inning of relief against the Phillies. At home on August 17, he hurled his first complete game, vs. the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the Giants won, 5-1. In September he had a complete-game loss followed by a complete-game win, and he lowered his ERA to 3.99 by the season’s end. His record was 4-8. The Giants played their finale on September 25, and international travel records listed him on a Venezuelan airline that same day.

In early March of 1956, Giants manager Bill Rigney was furious that Monzant missed a deadline for reporting to spring training. Monzant supposedly said he was “very tired,” and soon Rigney softened his tone. Monzant then denied fatigue and invoked his mother’s poor health. It was later specified that she had a fractured spine. International flight records show that on March 14 he arrived in New Orleans. It turned out that her back injury wasn’t so severe, and she helped persuade her son to report to the Giants.38

Monzant made his regular-season debut with two innings of relief on April 25, in the Giants’ seventh game. He then started the second game of a doubleheader at home, against Philadelphia on April 29. He was masterful. The Phillies scored an unearned run in the first inning on a walk, an infield error, and a single, and then were hitless. In the fifth inning he struck out the side and in the sixth he induced three infield popups. He struck out nine Phillies and walked five on his way to a final score of 8-1. He finished the one-hitter in 2 hours 15 minutes. Afterward, he contrasted Rigney’s style with Durocher’s:

The other fellow, he used to tell me ‘do this,’ ‘do that,’ whenever I came back to the dugout after an inning. He would holler to me from the bench while I was pitching. Bill, he doesn’t say anything. He just lets me pitch like I want. It is a different feeling. I feel more relaxed out there.39

Monzant didn’t pitch in a Giants game again until two weeks later, due to a sore arm.40 He struggled in relief outings on May 13 and 26. International travel records show that his wife and their first child, infant son José, arrived around mid-May, but their presence didn’t boost his performance.

On June 7 Monzant happened to test his arm in Minneapolis when the Giants played an exhibition game against the Millers. Monzant gave up one hit, one run, and no walks in four innings. However, his inability to strike out any of the Millers was unsettling.41 He was a pinch-runner on June 12 and 13 in Chicago, but that concluded his major-league service during 1956. By June 19 he was back with Minneapolis, but didn’t make a road trip due to his arm.42

Monzant was scheduled to start for the Millers on July 1, but a sore foot delayed that two days. On July 3 he fared well until he gave up three earned runs in the sixth inning and exited with one out. He suffered a 3-2 loss. He started again on July 8 but was lifted after giving up a single to the opposing leadoff man. “Monzant’s ailing shoulder and/or jammed toe acted up again,” a Twin Cities sportswriter explained. He started one more time, on July 22, and was pulled after two walks to begin the fourth inning.43 Across those three outings and 8 1/3 innings he yielded 12 hits, three walks, and five earned runs. He also had five strikeouts.44 The team held out some hope as late as August 17 that he could recover. Minneapolis was in the American Association playoffs after its regular season ended on September 9, but on September 6, Monzant, his wife, and their son left for Venezuela.

Monzant avoided the minors during the next two seasons, but his initial outing for the Giants in 1957 wasn’t until the second half of June. He still hadn’t shown up for spring training a week into March, but the Giants reportedly assumed his arm remained sore. Monzant soon explained that his mother had surgery for a brain condition in December and that her recovery was slow. In fact, she passed away on April 2, with him there.45

Monzant arrived in New York by May 8, about 20 games into the regular season. The Giants didn’t put him in a game until another exhibition game in Minneapolis, on June 17. He pitched well in three innings against the Millers. “I could have gone a few more innings if Rig wanted me to,” Monzant said.46 Rigney then used him in Chicago against the Cubs on June 22. His following appearances were also mostly in relief, and through July he was mostly mediocre, with an ERA below 5.00 just briefly. He lost his only two starts, on July 23 and September 22, though in the latter he gave up no earned runs. He ended 1957 with a record of 3-2 in 24 games and an ERA of 3.99. On September 29 he became the last man to pitch in a National League game for the New York Giants.

For the 1958 season, the Giants relocated to San Francisco. Unchanged was criticism of Monzant for being late for spring training. In mid-March Rigney chose to comment on a related pattern with Monzant:

I had him at Minneapolis. He’d always break well from the barrier and rack up about an 8-1 record and then The Lion in New York [i.e., Durocher] would roar and demand to know why Ramon was hidden away in the minors when the Giants could use him. So, off to the big city would go Ramon and pretty soon he’d be back with me; frustrated, disgusted and homesick. The next season Ramon jumped off to a 9-2 lead, and again The Lion roared. When I told Monzant Durocher wanted him again, Ramon’s eyes lit up wide and he cried: “Me no go. Stay here with you. Me happy here. Me no go to New York. Me go home. Me happier there.’ Well, Ramon finally gave in and back to the Giants he went. And back to me he came again.47

Through February 13, 1958, Monzant was on Venezuela’s team in the Caribbean Series. Two days earlier, he helped beat Cuba’s team, 8-1, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Venezuela finished last in the four-team tournament.48 On March 6, Monzant “finally arrived” at spring training, “late for the fifth time in as many years,” one San Francisco sportswriter noted.49 Late that month, an Associated Press article about Monzant said this time he was at least “well under the spring curfew he’d missed in the past.” Still, the writer said that in the previous four years he had “presented a variety of excuses” (perhaps unaware his mother’s death was one reason). “Sure, it helps to be here early,” Monzant conceded. Looking forward, he said, “I can do much better as a starter. I look for my best year this season. If I pitch every four days, my arm would be better.”50

Through June 10, Monzant was deployed as a starter in 12 of his 13 games. He went 4-5 with a 4.93 ERA. His four victories were all complete games. The most impressive was his third start, a 2-0 four-hit shutout against the Chicago Cubs at home on April 25. “My fast ball inside and my slider were working good, and I did not walk a man,” he said, grinning. “First man up I hit but after that no free passes.” By mixing in sliders, he notched three strikeouts against eventual 1958 MVP and Hall of Famer Ernie Banks. “But for the rest I give the fast ball.” Monzant said.51 He struck out four other Cubs.

Monzant pitched 30 more times after June 10, but only four were starts. He finished with a record of 8-11 plus a save, and had a 4.72 ERA. That was his only time in the majors when he was active from Opening Day until the finale. That year also became unique when his photo appeared twice in the Topps baseball card set. In addition to his own card, a photo of Monzant was mistakenly used on teammate Mike McCormick’s card.52

On February 6, 1959, Monzant announced he would be a holdout unless the Giants boosted his pay by $3,000, to $10,000. Club vice president Chub Feeney said the contract they’d sent him about week earlier did offer more money. “Maybe we were a little low on the first one,” Feeney admitted. “He pitched a lot of innings for us last year and we gave him a raise.” It so happened that on February 8 Monzant shook off two losses in the Venezuelan playoffs to hurl a 1-0 three-hitter in the decisive seventh game, which sent Oriente into the Caribbean Series as Venezuela’s entry. “Hundreds of jubilant fans swarmed on the field in Caracas after the final out,” M.J. Gorman, Jr. wrote in The Sporting News, “and Monzant was carried off in triumph.”53

On February 21, 1959, Monzant asked for his release, and said he’d “already wasted six years in pro ball.” Feeney responded promptly. “We won’t give him his release. He could then sign with any other club,” he said. “If he persists, he will be placed on the voluntary retired list.” That was on the eve of spring training. San Francisco sportswriter Bob Stevens said Monzant “would become the first Giant in modern times to get mad enough to quit.”54

Initial reports of the differing salary levels must have been inaccurate, because in mid-March Monzant was said to have agreed to a contract for $11,500, though a potential sticking point was his insistence on a tax-free advance of $5,000. The Giants said that wouldn’t be possible, and on March 24 Monzant said he’d stay home and work for an oil company. One theory was that loud booing of him during some home games was a big factor. However, teammate Al Worthington drew attention to the fact that Monzant and his wife, who still knew no English, had two children by that point and weren’t getting to see him for eight months a year. “I don’t blame him for hanging ’em up,” Bob Stevens responded.55

Monzant didn’t sign a new contract with the Giants until November 12, 1959. Atop the first sports page of the San Francisco Chronicle the next day, spanning the full width, a headline proclaimed, “Monzant Will Rejoin Giants in 1960.” Not long afterward, Bill Rigney commented. “I always thought Monzant was going to be a great pitcher. I think his trouble is that we rushed him along too fast when he first joined the club. One thing about Ramon, he knows how to pitch – more than some who have been in the majors a lot longer. He may benefit by laying out last year and I look for him to come back strong.”56

On March 2, 1960, Monzant once again reported late for spring training. San Francisco Examiner sportswriter Walter Judge said Monzant offered no particular reason for being tardy. “I just wanted a rest,” the pitcher said. “He hardly could have been tired from winter league play,” Judge replied. “He pitched only 21 innings.”57

On April 25 Ramón Monzant made his 1960 regular-season debut, in St. Louis. It was the Giants’ 11th game. He relieved in the eighth inning, right after the Giants pounded Bob Gibson to take a 9-7 lead. The first two Cardinals grounded out, but pinch-hitter Carl Sawatski swatted a homer to deep right field. Monzant then struck out pinch-hitter George Crowe to end the frame. A pinch-hitter batted for Monzant in the top of the ninth. Neither team scored, and the 9-8 victory improved the Giants’ record to 8-3. That turned out to be Monzant’s final inning in the major leagues.

Monzant hadn’t been mentioned in the Chronicle or the Examiner from Opening Day until that inning of work, so readers received no explanation for his disuse in the first 10 games. That remained true until May 12, when those dailies announced that he was assigned to the Giants’ Triple-A farm team, Tacoma of the Pacific Coast League. The Giants faced a deadline for reducing to 25-player rosters.58

On May 24 Monzant was the subject of a long, anonymous article in the Tacoma News-Tribune. The writer began by pointing out that Monzant had no personal connection to the Tacoma team’s leadership, nor “any sentimental attachment” to the state of Washington. “However, it shouldn’t be assumed he’s the unfriendly type. He isn’t at all,” the writer continued. Naturally, Monzant wanted return to the NL as soon as possible, but that didn’t create a bad attitude toward his new team.59

Monzant’s season ended prematurely on August 4, at home. He pitched a scoreless eighth inning in relief and singled to lead off the bottom half. When he advanced to second base on a passed ball, his spikes caught awkwardly and he dislocated an ankle, which Tacoma sportswriter Ed Honeywell said “is sometimes more serious than a fracture.” Tacoma general manager Rosy Ryan was said to be “considerably upset” by the injury. “Monzant was a major league relief pitcher and probably the most valuable man on our staff,” Ryan declared.60 Monzant pitched 80 innings in 40 games for Tacoma. He went 4-3 with a 3.38 ERA.

In February of 1961, the Tacoma club remained optimistic that Monzant would return, and still tried to woo him in April. Tacoma may have given up by mid-June, when his injury the previous August was described as a broken ankle that hadn’t healed properly.61 In March of 1962, Monzant announced his retirement due to injury, albeit to his arm, though that broken ankle was also noted.62

Late in 1962, The Sporting News reported Monzant’s early success in Venezuela’s Occidental League, “pitching with Pastora this season on loan from Oriente of Venezuela’s Central League. The arrangement was worked out so he could retain his job with a local brewery.”63 One of his comeback games received coverage back in Tacoma.64 A year later it was reported that Monzant signed again with the Pastora club,65 but infrequent mentions of him later that decade in US newspapers tended to be in reminiscences of the 1950s.

Ramón Monzant died on August 10, 2001, at age 68. By 2007 he became one of the first 20 baseball players in the Venezuelan Sports Hall of Fame.66 It’s possible a big reason his pitching success in Venezuela and the minor leagues never materialized in the NL was casual xenophobia that was easier to shrug off where there was less pressure. What seemed like exaggeration of his accent and imperfect English in newspapers at times certainly could have reflected a widely dismissive attitude toward foreign players. Similarly, there were three instances each in the San Francisco Chronicle during the spring trainings of 1958 and 1960 when Monzant’s reasons for arriving late were belittled as involving “banana boats,” in a context considered derogatory in recent decades.67 One example in March 1960 may have been an attempt to be clever. “Ramon Monzant of Venezuela, a banana boat rider, also arrived late but not because of officialdom,” wrote longtime Chronicle sportswriter Art Rosenbaum. “He explained that ‘the boat with the banana she said manana.’”68 It’s questionable that Monzant would have actually said this, partly because international travel records accessible via Ancestry.com show he arrived in Miami a week earlier by airline. In any event, it couldn’t have been easy being the only player from his country in the NL during the second half of the 1950s.

SOURCES

The primary source for statistics throughout is baseball-reference.com.

Photo credit: Ramón Monzant, National Baseball Hall of Fame Library.

NOTES

1 Kevin T. Czerwinski, “Legendary Minor League Records,” April 5, 2005, https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-377.

2 J.G. Taylor Spink, ed., Baseball Register (St. Louis: C.C. Spink & Son, 1956), 214.

3 “Monzant Wants to Show That He’s Big Leaguer,” Tacoma (Washington) News-Tribune, May 24, 1960: C-7.

4 “Monzant Impresses Bill Rigney, Slated for Regular Mound Stint,” Danville (Virginia) Bee, March 27, 1958: 2-D.

5 Manolo Rodriguez, “Una Gran Figura Aporta Venezuela Para el Beisbol Mayor: Monzant,” La Prensa (San Antonio, Texas), July 11, 1954: 7.

6 Tom Briere, “Kid Venezuelan Hurler Takes 7-3 Mark to Giants,” The Sporting News, July 7, 1954: 9.

7 “Monzant Wants to Show that He’s Big Leaguer.”

8 “Una Gran Figura Aporta Venezuela Para el Beisbol Mayor: Monzant”; Carlos Cárdenas Lares, Venezolanos en las Grandes Ligas, 2nd ed. (Caracas: Fondo Editorial Cárdenas Lares, 1994), 40. For at least three of Haneles’s minor-league seasons he was that rarest of catchers, a left-hander.

9 “‘Ten-Day’ Trial Lasts Two Innings,” The Sporting News, March 19, 1952: 21. A few years later, this school was apparently known as the Bill Virdon Baseball School, based on an ad in The Sporting News, December 11, 1957: 30. A claim in it read, “900 players from our camp have signed contracts since 1946 including Danny O’Connell (Giants) and Ramon Monzant (Giants) from our 1952 class.” The school was “Operated by National Baseball Placement Bureau.” O’Connell made his major-league debut in 1950 and served in the military during 1952, so he presumably wasn’t in the 1952 class with Monzant, contrary to one interpretation of that sentence in the ad.

10 “‘Ten-Day’ Trial Lasts Two Innings”; Pete Norton, “Reds Invade Sarasota for Tilt With Bosox,” Tampa Morning Tribune, March 8, 1952: 11, 13. There were several indications that a few rules were ignored during this informal game. Contrasting the detailed play-by-play with the box score (in which the inning-by-inning subtotals flipped the two teams) seems to indicate that the other team skipped over their fifth-place hitter in that informal game. Also, Monzant was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the seventh but stayed in the game. What’s more, Bob Wilson apparently pinch-hit for both squads, and a second player was also in both lineups. This Bob Wilson was presumably Robert Alexander Wilson, born in Piedmont, Alabama, who spent three seasons in Cincinnati’s farm system. For the record, Monzant was credited as the winning pitcher despite blowing a five-run lead because his side came right back with a four-run rally to produce the final score of 9-6.

11 “Shelby Club Opens Camp Here Today,” Tampa Morning Tribune, March 17, 1952: 15.

12 Despite the minimal coverage, a box score was printed of Shelby’s loss to the Class-B St. Petersburg Saints on March 29. See Bob Hudson, “Saints Trounce Farmers, 7 To 1,” St. Petersburg Times, March 30, 1952: 25. The starting pitcher for the Farmers was reportedly named Julio Ramon. Was it just a coincidence that that surname matched Monzant’s first name? Though the Farmers’ regular-season roster in 1952 at baseball-reference.com had no player with a surname anywhere close to Ramon, it’s possible he was trying out and soon was cut. Also, a minor-league pitcher named Julio Ramos, not Ramon, was active at that time, but all of his regular-season pitching from 1950 through 1952 was for teams in Texas in Class B, two rungs above D. It’s worth noting here that Shelby’s roster for 1952 at baseball-reference.com might be incomplete. The pitcher for Shelby in its third game was named Rainey, but there’s no such name on the roster. See Lawrence Smith, “Farmers Blast Hickory,” Hickory (North Carolina) Daily Record, April 24, 1952: 2, 13. In fact, an Opening Day preview mentioned three other Farmers, Bill Lowder, Oscar Del Calvo, and Rush Gold, who aren’t on the baseball-reference.com roster. See Sandy Grady, “‘Nobody Loves Nobody’ In Cozy Western Carolina,” Charlotte (North Carolina) News, April 21, 1952: 18.

13 Only one of the six franchises is listed as being affiliated with a major-league club at https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/league.cgi?id=2e4c3a74. On each roster accessible from this web page, boldface denotes the very few future or former major leaguers.

14 “Shelby Tops Owls, 9 to 7 on Nine Hits,” Hickory Daily Record, April 23, 1952: 2, 9. In the box score’s batting order he was “Munvant” (with a hitless at-bat), while beneath the line score he was “Monvant” four times. Thanks to Martin Otts of the Patrick Beaver Memorial Library in Hickory, North Carolina, for providing newspaper coverage of Shelby’s early games.

15 “Minor Averages,” The Sporting News, June 18, 1952: 38.

16 “Lincolnton, Shelby in Tight Race,” “Asheville (North Carolina) Citizen-Times, June 22, 1952: D5. “Wright’s .381 Remains Best in Western,” Greensboro (North Carolina) Daily News, June 22, 1952: sports, 9.

17 “Shelby, Lincs Win Openers,” Greensboro Daily News, September 2, 1952: 2, 3; Ronald Kiser, “Cards Rap Maurauders [sic] by 6 to 2,” Gastonia (North Carolina) Gazette, September 2, 1952: 8.

18 “Lincolnton Tops Shelby by 1-0,” Greensboro Daily News, September 10, 1952: 2, 5; “High School Football,” Greensboro Daily News, September 13, 1952: 2, 3; “Shelby Takes Shaughnessy in WC Loop,” Asheville Citizen, September 16, 1952: 15

19 Irwin Smallwood, “Tar Heel Sports,” Greensboro Daily News, September 12, 1952: 4, 1.

20 Smallwood. See also “Ray Monzant Giant Now,” Charlotte Observer, September 12, 1952: 18-A. The latter article was accompanied by a photo of Monzant from the waist up, wearing a Farmers jersey.

21 “Smokes Sign Venezuelan,” Knoxville (Tennessee) News-Sentinel, September 19, 1952: 10. Aragon, who was born in Cuba, was a pinch-runner in his only major-league game, for the Giants in 1941.

22 Antonio Lutz, “Venezuela Pro League Opens with 4 Teams,” The Sporting News, October 15, 1952: 33.

23 Antonio Lutz,” Magallenes Club Slides From Top to League Cellar,” The Sporting News, December 3, 1952: 34; Antonio Lutz, “Schenz’ .355 Wins Bat Title in Venezuela,” The Sporting News, March 11, 1953: 32. Lutz provided regular updates in other editions of The Sporting News. Monzant’s other teammates included Dick Whitman, a six-year National Leaguer from 1946 through 1951, who hit .371 for Magallanes but didn’t have enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting average title, and Jesus “Chucho” Ramos, whose major-league career consisted of five hits in 10 at-bats (.500) across four games with the Cincinnati Reds in 1944.

24 “46 Players Are Formally Placed on Danville Leafs’ 1953 Roster,” Danville Bee, February 5, 1953: 2, 8.

25 Walter Christianson, “Leaf Positions Still Not Fixed but Formidable Team Is Forecast,” Danville Bee, April 6, 1953: 11.

26 Christianson. See also Warren Corbett, “Ewell Blackwell,” https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ewell-blackwell/. Monzant was likewise compared to Blackwell by Moses Crutchfield: “Bucs, as Flag Contender, Pass 1952 Gate,” Greensboro (North Carolina) Daily News, July 5, 1953: sports, 6.

27 “Cards, Buc Win; Highlanders Lose,” Raleigh (North Carolina) News and Observer, May 15, 1953: 18; Earle Hellen, “Pats Seek to Slow Bur-Gra Flag March Tonight,” Greensboro (North Carolina) Record, June 19, 1953: B-4.

28 Earle Hellen, “Recording Sports,” Greensboro Record, July 7, 1953: B-8.

29 “Danville Pitcher Is Named Most Valuable Player,” The Robesonian (Lumberton, North Carolina), September 9, 1953: 12. “Radulovich, Buddin, Hussey Cop Carolina League Honors,” Durham (North Carolina) Morning Herald, September 13, 1953: II, 5; “Pirates Drop Opener to Leafs, 6-4; Play Here Tonight,” Burlington (North Carolina) Daily Times-News, September 9, 1953: 8; “Monzant Hurls Leafs to Win Over Luckies in First Game,” Burlington Daily Times-News, September 15, 1953: 2; “Luckies Top Danville, 5-1,” Raleigh News and Observer, September 18, 1953: 24; “Rosser Led Pitchers With 2 Wins; Collins, Gilbert Paced Hitting,” Danville Bee, September 21, 1953: 2, 12.

30 “Seven Leafs Promoted; Monzant Goes to AAA Minneapolis Club,” Danville Bee, September 24, 1953: 4, 5. Bill White was promoted to Sioux City, Iowa, in the Class-A Western League.

31 Lou Hernández, The Rise of the Latin American Baseball Leagues, 1947-1961 (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2011), 336-337.

32 “Members Of 1953 Leafs Now on Roster of Higher Class Clubs,” Danville Bee, March 29, 1954: 10; Bob Beebe, “Beebe’s Scrapbook,” Minneapolis Star, April 29, 1954: 38; Bob Beebe, “Monzant to Giants in Cash Purchase,” Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, June 27, 1954: Sports, 1. The latter article included a photo of Rita helping her husband pack. For Rita’s full name after their marriage, see international travel records dated May 13 and September 6, 1956, accessible via Ancestry.com. See also Manolo Rodriguez, “Una Gran Figura Aporta Venezuela Para el Beisbol Mayor: Monzant,” La Prensa, July 11, 1954: 7.

33 Bob Beebe, “Monzant to Giants in Cash Purchase,” Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, June 27, 1954: Sports, 1; “Moryn Called Up by Brooks; Monzant May Go for Giants,” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, June 29, 1954: 26; Tom Briere, “Kid Venezuelan Hurler Takes 7-3 Mark to Giants,” The Sporting News, July 7, 1954: 9.

34 See https://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/birthplace.php?loc=Venezuela, which is sortable by Debut Year.

35 Bob Beebe, “Giants Recall Worthington; Send Monzant,” Minneapolis Star, July 28, 1954: 36.

36 Bob Beebe, “Monzant Has Real Chance in Majors, Says Rigney,” Minneapolis Star, May 31, 1955: 30. Sid Hartman, “The Roundup: Lundeen Recalls Feats of Monzant,” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, June 1, 1955: 22.

37 Jim McCulley, “Diamond Dust,” New York Daily News, June 11, 1955: 19c.

38 Jim McCulley, “Rigney to Throw Book at Missing Monzant,” New York Daily News, March 2, 1956: 25c; “Monzant Is Excused,” New York Times, March 3, 1956: 13; “Monzant Denies Reports,” New York Times, March 4, 1956: S9; “Monzant Will Join Giants,” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, March 12, 1956: 26; Joe King, “N.Y. Reporter: Assist by Mom Brought Giant Hurler in Fold,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 18, 1956: 4H.

39 “Monzant Takes Dig at Lippy,” Boston Traveler, April 30, 1956: 27.

40 Jim McCulley, “Giants Think EF Fences Can Cure Hitting Woes,” New York Daily News, May 11, 1956: c20.

41 Tom Briere, “21,832 Watch Giants Defeat Millers 6-4,” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, June 8, 1956: 24.

42 “Terwilliger, Stephenson in Lineup,” Minneapolis Star, June 19, 1956: 12B.

43 “Double Triumph First for ‘Fireman’ Paine,” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, July 2, 1956: 20; Bob Beebe, “Monzant Hurling Pleases Stanky,” Minneapolis Star, July 4, 1956: 1D; “Millers Must Halt Denver Drive Now,” Minneapolis Star, July 9, 1956: 13B; Tom Briere, “Millers Win 10-1, Lose 3-2,” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, July 23, 1956: 24.

44 “Miller Figures,” Minneapolis Star, August 23, 1956: 11B.

45 Louis Effrat, “Gomez’ Absence Irritates Giants,” New York Times, March 7, 1957: 49; Louis Effrat, “Antonelli, Mays Among Giants With Minor Arm Troubles,” New York Times, March 8, 1957: 32; “Monzant’s Mother Dies,” New York Times, April 3, 1957: 49.

46 Jim McCulley, “Diamond Dust,” New York Daily News, May 8, 1957: 80; “Monzant Earns Spot With Giants,” Minneapolis Morning Tribune, June 18, 1957: 14.

47 Bob Stevens, “Tris Speaker at Home in LA’s ‘Unusual Climate,’” San Francisco Chronicle, March 19, 1958: 2H.

48 “Monzant Pitches Caribbean Win,” San Francisco Examiner, February 12, 1958: II, 7; “Cuba Defeats Puerto Rico in Caribbean Final,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 14, 1958: 6B.

49 Walter Judge, “Giants’ Kids Wallop Vets in 7-2 Tilt,” San Francisco Examiner, March 6, 1958: II, 7, 11.

50 “Monzant Impresses Bill Rigney, Slated for Regular Mound Stint.”

51 Will Connolly, “’Best Game Ever,’ Says Monzant,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 26, 1958: 1H.

52 Tim Jenkins, “Walter Moved Quick and Horace Jumped to Candlestick,” SABR Baseball Cards Blog, December 5, 2018, https://sabrbaseballcards.blog/2018/12/05/walter-moved-quick-and-horace-jumped-to-candlestick/.

53 “Giants Hope to Satisfy Monzant,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 7, 1959: 1H; M.J. Gorman Jr., “Monzant Rips Goat Label to Star in Finale,” The Sporting News, February 18, 1959: 26. Monzant’s baseball-reference.com entry provides limited stats for one of his Venezuelan winter league seasons, 1958-1959. He went 8-9 for the Oriente team and struck out 109 batters in 136 innings.

54 “Monzant to Giants: ‘I Want Out,’” San Francisco Examiner, February 22, 1959: 18; Bob Stevens, “S.F. Won’t Release Monzant; Varsity Reports Today,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 23, 1959: 1H, 3H.

55 Walter Judge, “Worthington in Fold; Monzant Is Ready to Sign,” San Francisco Examiner, March 17, 1959: II, 8, 10. “Monzant Decides to Stay Home,” San Francisco Examiner, March 25, 1959: 4, 2. Bob Stevens, “Giants Lose Homer Battle,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 31, 1959: 1H, 4H.

56 Bob Stevens, “Monzant to Pitch for S.F. Again,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 13, 1959: 1H, 2H. The banner headline “Monzant Will Rejoin Giants in 1960” was some inches away from Stevens’ article containing the details. See also Jack McDonald, “Guessers Bat .000 Dropping Names in Giant Swap Hopper,” The Sporting News, December 2, 1959: 25.

57 Walter Judge, “Monzant Rejoins Giants; Arm OK,” San Francisco Examiner, March 3, 1960: 4, 1.

58 “Monzant, Rookie Shipped to Tacoma,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 12, 1960: 35.

59 “Monzant Wants to Show That He’s Big Leaguer.”

60 Ed Honeywell, “Tacoma Beats Seattle but Loses Monzant,” Tacoma News-Tribune, August 5, 1960: 21; Dan Walton, “Sports-log,” Tacoma News-Tribune, August 6, 1960: 8.

61 Ed Honeywell, “Giant Hurlers Sign Papers,” Tacoma Sunday News Tribune, February 26, 1961: C-18; Ed Honeywell, “Between Bounces,” Tacoma News Tribune, April 29, 1961: 8; Dan Walton, “Sports-log,” Tacoma Sunday News Tribune, June 11, 1961: B-11.

62 “Monzant to Quit Diamond,” Tacoma News-Tribune, March 5, 1962: 14.

63 Olaf E. Dickson, “Monzant, Aparicio Spark Flag Contenders With Flashy Feats,” The Sporting News, November 17, 1962: 29.

64 Dan Walton, “Sports-log,” Tacoma Daily Ledger, November 16, 1962: 23.

65 Dan Walton, “Sports-log,” Tacoma News Tribune, November 4, 1963: 16.

66 William F. McNeil, Black Baseball Out of Season: Pay for Play Outside of the Negro Leagues (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2012), 184-185.

67 For example, this term caused players to revolt in 1993 against Iowa Wesleyan College football coach Charlie Moot. One player said that among Moot’s most derogatory comments was, “I’ll ship (you) home on the banana boat,” directed at a player from Samoa. See Jeff Olson, “Hard-Nosed Football and a Player Revolt,” Des Moines (Iowa) Sunday Register, April 25, 1993: 1D, 13D. As an example outside of sports, in 2002 a jury in West Palm Beach, Florida, awarded $30,000 to a Cuban-American employee of the local sheriff’s department after a retaliatory demotion by a supervisor who had said Cubans were “good for rowing” and “worked on banana boats.” See Bill Douthat, “Sheriff’s Employee Awarded $30,000 after Demotion,” Palm Beach (Florida) Post, November 28, 2002: 2B.

68 Art Rosenbaum, “Overheard: Now Batting – United Nations,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 6, 1960: 33, 37. An example from two years earlier was penned by Bob Stevens, “Giants Open Spring Camp Drills Today,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 24, 1958: 1H. A sportswriter in Tacoma also “got into the act,” as the saying goes, at least one time: Ed Honeywell, “Giant Hurlers Sign Papers,” Tacoma Sunday News Tribune, February 26, 1961: C-18.