Ramón Segundo Monzant Espina (January 4, 1933 – August 10, 2001) was a , right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

who played for the New York / San Francisco Giants in all or parts of six seasons between 1954 and 1960. He compiled a 16–21 record with a 4.38

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) and 201 strikeouts in innings. Monzant was born in Maracaibo,

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. He first played professionally for the Shelby Farmers in 1952 before being purchased by the New York Giants organization. In 1953, he played for the

Danville Leafs The Danville Leafs were a professional minor league baseball team that played in the city of Danville, Virginia. During 1935–1942, they were also known as the Danville-Schoolfield Leafs. History Professional baseball first made its appearance i ...

and won 23 games for the team. Monzant was promoted to the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

in 1954, and pitched in 27 games for the team, winning 11 and losing 7. He also played in six games for the Giants, making his major league debut on July 2, 1954. Monzant spent the first half of 1955 with the Millers before returning to the Giants. In 28 games, he had a 4–8 record and a 3.99 ERA. One of his best performances took place on April 29, 1956, in a Giants 8–1 complete game victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, when a one-out, first-inning single by

Del Ennis Delmer Ennis (June 8, 1925 – February 8, 1996) was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1946 to 1959 for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and Chicago Whit ...

cost him a no-hitter. Due to a sore arm, Monzant only pitched in four games that season, but returned in 1957 to pitch in 24 games for the Giants. In 1958, Monzant remained on the major league roster for the full season. He pitched the first west coast night game on April 16, 1958, against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

, as both the Dodgers and now-San Francisco Giants has moved to the west coast beginning that season. He pitched in 43 games for the Giants that season. In 1959, citing a sore arm and a desire to sit out the season, wishing to return to Venezuela, Monzant retired from baseball. He returned to the Giants in 1960, pitching one game for them and spending the rest of the year with the Tacoma Giants, the team's AAA affiliate. During the season, he broke his leg while sliding into second base, which led to his retirement from baseball for good. Monzant was named to the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006, and was named to the Navegantes del Magallanes Hall of Fame in 2012.Meridiano.com – Magallanes exaltó a 14 personajes al Salón de La Fama de la organización
(Spanish)

References

External links

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monzant, Ramon 1933 births 2001 deaths Danville Leafs players Indios de Oriente players Lácteos de Pastora players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Navegantes del Magallanes players New York Giants (NL) players San Francisco Giants players Shelby Farmers players Sportspeople from Maracaibo Tacoma Giants players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States

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External links