Mudcat Grant’s 1965 Minnesota Twins Baseball Card

1965 Topps # 432 Mudcat Grant Minnesota Twins (Baseball Card)

James Timothy "Mudcat" Grant Jr. was a two-time All-Star baseball player and was named The Sporting News American League Pitcher of the Year in 1965. He used his position as a player to raise awareness of racial injustice; once, he sang the national anthem before the game but changed the lyrics. Instead of “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave,” he sang, “This land is not so free, I can’t even go to Mississippi.”

• Watch a video clip of Grant hitting a three-run home run in Game 6 of the 1965 World Series between the Twins and Dodgers.
• Watch a news clip about Grant’s love for baseball and the Blues.
• Read “The Black Aces: Baseball’s Only African-American Twenty-Game Winners” ($23)

Born as James Timothy Grant Jr. in August 1935, Mudcat Grant was interested in baseball at an early age. He played as a third baseman and pitcher in high school, and then received an athletic scholarship to the historically Black Florida A&M – but had to drop out to support his family financially his sophomore year. He signed with the Cleveland Indians when he was just 19 years old (NYTimes).

But this path wasn’t without its hardships. During this time, Black baseball players – like many other athletes in other major leagues – experienced significant racism. Black players were often banned from most hotels and restaurants in the South, and in various major cities across the country (NYTimes). His own pitching coach, Ted Wilks, was known for intentionally pitching balls to Black batters’ heads, and once organized a boycott to prevent his team from playing against Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers (Richland Library). Even his nickname, “Mudcat”, was rooted in racist rhetoric:

“In those days, they thought all Black folk was from Mississippi,” Grant told a reporter. “They started calling me Mississippi Mudcat. “I said, ‘I’m not from Mississippi,’ and they said, ‘You’re still a Mississippi Mudcat.’ ” He protested, but the name stuck."

“The Lives They Lived”, a tribute to artists, innovators, and thinkers we lost in 2021, note the racial stereotyping that influenced his nickname (NYTimes).

Grant didn’t just weather those indignities. He actively stood against them. One night in 1960, when his team was playing the Kansas City Athletics, he rose alongside his teammates to sing the national anthem. But he improvised the lyrics. Instead of the line “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave,” he sang, “This land is not so free, I can’t even go to Mississippi.” This ignited a firestorm on his team, and Wilks called him a derogatory term. Grant punched him and walked out, causing him to be suspended for the season. But when he returned, Wilks had been demoted, and Grant had one of his best seasons with the team. From there, he joined the Minnesota Twins in 1964, where he became “an all-star, a 21-game winner and The Sporting News’s American League Pitcher of the Year in 1965” (NYTimes). He spoke frankly of the challenges of playing baseball as a Black man with then-presidential candidate John F. Kennedy. He convinced him to fund running water in his rural hometown (Philadelphia Tribune).

Despite his accomplishments, Grant wasn’t given his due in baseball. So he retired, choosing to pursue music instead. He formed an R+B group, “Mudcat and the Kittens,” and went on to find commercial success (NYTimes). He reclaimed his nickname and made it his own. In 2016, he wrote the book “The Black Aces: Baseball’s Only African-American Twenty-Game Winners". In it, he profiled thirteen African American baseball players to win at least twenty games – alongside other African American players he believed could have achieved that goal if they had the proper chance. He passed away in June 2021 (Philadelphia Tribune).

Although his story may not be as well-known, he joins the list of athlete activists who rallied for what’s right, regardless of the cost. His legacy challenged major league sports to reconsider their role in perpetuating systemic oppression, one that athletes continue to advocate for today.

Reflection Questions

• How can you use your voice to spark change in your community?
• What other examples of demonstrations for equity and inclusion have you seen in sports?

Learn More

• Go on a virtual field trip about Jim “Mudcat” Grant with the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
• Learn about the legacy of Jim “Mudcat” Grant in this tribute video.
• Read “In Don Newcombe, Baseball Got Its First Black Ace,” an article that profiles Newcombe and other athletes profiled in Grant’s book
• Read “Life,” a poem by Mudcat Grant about his love for baseball