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James Timothy Grant
Minnesota Twins
Pitcher
Born: August 13, 1935, Lacoochee, FL
Signed: Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before 1954 season
Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1958-1964; Minnesota Twins 1964-1967; Los Angeles Dodgers 1968; Montreal Expos 1969; St. Louis Cardinals 1969; Oakland Athletics 1970; Pittsburgh Pirates 1970-1971; Oakland Athletics 1971
Died: June 11, 2021, Los Angeles, CA (age 85)
Given the nickname Mudcat during his minor league days with the Indians, Jim Grant would at first shrug off the moniker but then come to embrace it as he put together a solid 14-year major league career. Grant won at least 10 games in four different seasons with the Indians, earning a spot on the American League All-Star team in 1963. He got off to a slow start in 1964, and was dealt to the Twins that June where he'd pitch impressively the rest of the season, going 11-9 with a 2.82 ERA. That success would carry over to 1965, Grant's career year. Going 21-7 with a 3.30 ERA and a league-leading six shutouts, Grant would help pitch the Twins to their first World Series appearance. He was a bright spot for the Twins in the World Series (see below) although his team fell to the Dodgers in seven games.
Grant was dealt to the Dodgers following the 1967 season, beginning a four-year odyssey that would see him pitch with five different teams. Grant was the first starting pitcher in Montreal Expos franchise history on April 8, 1969. He'd move to the bullpen full time in 1970, and was one of the game's best relievers that season with the Athletics. In 72 relief appearance for Oakland, Grant had a 1.82 ERA and recorded 24 saves. In 571 career games, Grant was 145-119 with a 3.63 ERA, 54 saves and 1,267 strikeouts. Following his playing days, he served as a broadcaster for the Athletics and Indians and in 2007 he published a highly-acclaimed book, The Black Aces, Baseball's Only African-American Twenty-Game Winners. Grant featured his own successful 1965 campaign in the book, which includes chapters paying tribute to Vida Blue, Bob Gibson (#320), Ferguson Jenkins and Don Newcombe, among many others.
Building the Set
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Sports Cards Plus - Cooper City, FL) - Card #577
The Card / Twins Team Set
Acquired from the Indians in the middle of the 1964 season, Topps didn't yet have a photo of Grant wearing a Twins uniform. And while Topps was able to update Grant's team pennant to reflect he was now a member of the Twins, they didn't update the color of the surrounding border. Grant's card still has the blue used for Indians cards and not the purple found on Twins cards. He appeared in 14 Topps flagship sets, with Topps only using his Mudcat nickname on the front of his 1959 card. With the addition of this card, our Twins team set is complete.
1965 Season
Grant was a member of a solid starting pitching rotation for the Twins that included Jim Kaat (#62) and Jim Perry (#351). The leader of the staff, Grant led the team in wins, innings pitched (270 1/3) and complete games (14). He was named to the All-Star team, pitching two innings and allowing two runs while striking out three. In the World Series, Grant started Games 1, 4 and 6, pitching complete game victories in Games 1 and 6, and going 2-1 overall with a 2.74 ERA over 23 innings. He hit a three-run home run in Game 6, leading the Twins to a 5-1 victory and forcing a Game 7. Following the season, Grant finished sixth in the MVP voting and was named The Sporting News American League Pitcher of the Year.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1958 Topps #394
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1958-1969, 1971-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams #8
94 - Grant non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/1/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
March 6, 2022 from The Philly Show (Sports Cards Plus - Cooper City, FL) - Card #577
This is the 93rd of 102 cards acquired for our set from the Baseball Card Sports Memorabilia Show, affectionately known as The Philly Show, held in the basement of the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia in early March. We went nuts and left the show needing only 12 more cards to complete our 1965 Topps set, and I wrote about the show in detail over at The Phillies Room. After our 51 card haul from Uncle Dick's, and with more card spending budget still in place, I set out to find another dealer with a binder of 1965 Topps cards with reasonable prices. I had purchased cards from Sports Cards Plus before, finding the last few cards needed for our 1971 Topps set from this dealer back in December 2019.
Settling in, we found 37 cards needed for our set with an average price per card working out to around $6. The lot, including this Grant card, consisted mostly of semi-stars and team cards. After paying for this mini haul, we were officially 13 cards away from a complete set, with one more purchase coming to end the day.
The Card / Twins Team Set
Acquired from the Indians in the middle of the 1964 season, Topps didn't yet have a photo of Grant wearing a Twins uniform. And while Topps was able to update Grant's team pennant to reflect he was now a member of the Twins, they didn't update the color of the surrounding border. Grant's card still has the blue used for Indians cards and not the purple found on Twins cards. He appeared in 14 Topps flagship sets, with Topps only using his Mudcat nickname on the front of his 1959 card. With the addition of this card, our Twins team set is complete.
1965 Season
Grant was a member of a solid starting pitching rotation for the Twins that included Jim Kaat (#62) and Jim Perry (#351). The leader of the staff, Grant led the team in wins, innings pitched (270 1/3) and complete games (14). He was named to the All-Star team, pitching two innings and allowing two runs while striking out three. In the World Series, Grant started Games 1, 4 and 6, pitching complete game victories in Games 1 and 6, and going 2-1 overall with a 2.74 ERA over 23 innings. He hit a three-run home run in Game 6, leading the Twins to a 5-1 victory and forcing a Game 7. Following the season, Grant finished sixth in the MVP voting and was named The Sporting News American League Pitcher of the Year.
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First Mainstream Card: 1958 Topps #394
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1958-1969, 1971-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2004 Upper Deck Legends Timeless Teams #8
94 - Grant non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 10/1/22.
Sources:
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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