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One of seven children in his family, Jim “Mudcat” Grant was a three-sport athlete in high school. Grant was scouted by former New York Giants first baseman Fred Merkle. Famous for his blunder in the 1908 pennant race, Merkle saw Grant in the Florida State Negro Baseball Tournament in Daytona.

When high school ended, Mudcat earned a scholarship to play football and baseball at Florida A&M. Before taking the diamond, he left the school to earn money for the family.

When Merkle heard that Grant left Florida A&M, he contacted him and convinced the hurler to sign with the Indians. In his first pro season in the Class C Northern League, the 18-year old went 21-5.

Grant progressed quickly, earning 70 victories in four minor league seasons before earning a promotion to the big club in 1958. The right-hander posted double-digit win totals in five of his first seven big league seasons. In 1963 Mudcat made the All Star team for the first time.

Indians General Manager Gabe Paul traded Grant to the Minnesota Twins for journeymen George Banks and Lee Stange in June of ’64. Mudcat’s Cleveland totals include a 67-63 record, 9 saves, and a 4.09 ERA.

In the collection is this 1960 Topps card autographed by the Indians pitcher.

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In his first full season with Minnesota in ’65, Mudcat Grant hosted a TV variety show called “The Jim Grant Show”. The hurler sang, danced as the program’s central figure.

On the field, Grant was even more entertaining. He became the first African-American pitcher to reach the 20-win plateau in the American League. Grant’s 21 wins, 6 shutouts, and .750 winning percentage were all tops in the American League. Grant gave much of the credit to Twins pitching coach Johnny Sain.

In those days, the Cy Young Award was given to the outstanding pitcher in the entire big leagues, not the best pitcher in each league. Despite Grant’s performance, the honor went to the Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax who went 26-8 with 382 strikeouts, and a 2.04 ERA.

Grant finished 6th in AL MVP voting. The Twins reached the World Series behind the pitching of Grant and Jim Kaat. At the plate they were led by MVP Zolio Versalles and .321 hitter Tony Oliva.

In Game 1, Grant best Hall of Fame hurler Don Drysdale in a complete-game effort. His victory was the first in by an African-American for the AL in Fall Classic play.

Mudcat lost a Game 4 rematch with Drysdale. In Game 6 with his team down 3-games-to-2 Grant again went the distance. In a performance for the ages, he held the Dodgers to one run and slammed a 3-run homer to boot.

The round-tripper was the the first by an African-American pitcher in World Series play and only the second postseason bomb by an AL moundsman.

Despite Grant’s heroics, the Twins succumbed in Game 7 as Koufax pitched a ten-strikeout, three-hit, shutout.

In 1966 Mudcat broke even with a 13-13 season. It was his final double-digit win total.

From 1967-1971 he played for six different teams. During those final five years of his career, Grant went 33-27 with a 3.19 ERA. He made his last big league appearance with Oakland in late September of ’71.

Mudcat Grant completed his career as two-time All Star with a 145-119 record and a 3.63 ERA.

In the collection is this trio of autographed Topps baseball cards of Mudcat Grant. From left to right they are from 1965, 1966, and 1968.

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When Jim “Mudcat” Grant won a league-leading 21 games in 1965, he became the American League’s first African-American 20-game winner. Later he published his autobiography under the title, The Black Aces: Baseball’s Only African-American Twenty-Game Winners.

The term, “Black Aces” came to represent 20-game winners of African-American descent. The first member of the club was Don Newcombe of the 1951 Brooklyn Dodgers. A Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and MVP, Newk’ had 20 or more wins on three occasions including a league-leading 27 in 1956.

Four years later Sam Jones of the San Francisco Giants posted an NL-best 21 victories to join Newcombe. First AL Black Ace Mudcat Grant earned his 20th win of 1965 on September 25; eight days later the Cardinals’ Bob Gibson became the club’s fourth member. Gibson reached the 20-win plateau again in 1966, ’68, ’69, and ’70.

In 1967 Fergie Jenkins and Earl Wilson gained membership by winning 20 and 22 games respectively. Jenkins proved to be the most prolific of the 20-game winners, reaching the mark in seven seasons.

Vida Blue had the first of his three 20-win seasons in 1971 when he was voted the American League Most Valuable Player. That same year Al Downing captured the NL’s Comeback Player of the Year Award by winning 20 contests.

Flamethrower JR Richard secured his spot with the Black Aces in 1976 with exactly 20 victories while Mike Norris joined him as a 22-game winner in 1980 with the A’s.

Dwight Gooden had perhaps the finest season of any of the aces in 1985. It was a Triple Crown campaign for Doc who led the NL in wins (24), ERA (1.53) and strikeouts (268). That same decade, Dave Stewart dominated AL hitters by winning 20+ in four consecutive seasons started in 1987.

Former Rookie of the Year Dontrelle Willis became the first Black Ace of the 21st century with 22 victories in 2005. Five years later CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees led the league with 21 triumphs to join his mates. The most recent addition to the exclusive club is David Price who won exactly 20 in his Cy Young campaign of 2012.

In the collection is Don Newcombe’s rookie baseball card produced by Bowman in 1950. The first African-American pitcher to win 20 games has neatly signed his name across the front of the card.