Whatever Happened to Mudcat Grant?

JAMES “MUDCAT” GRANT

• Pitcher, 1958-64
• Best season: 1961, 35 games, 15-9 won-lost record, 0 saves, 3.86 ERA 
• Indians career: 227 games, 67-63 won-lost record, 8 saves, 4.09 ERA

The trade—some considered it a “giveaway”—that sent Mudcat Grant from the Indians to Minnesota in 1964 is a perfect case history of the financial insecurity that plagued the Cleveland franchise in the “bad old days.” That would be the era that began in the early 1960s and continued into the mid-1990s, marked by losing teams and small crowds.

Grant, who grew up in the Tribe farm system after he signed as an 18-year-old amateur free agent in 1954—his “bonus,” he said, was a “handshake”—had become one of the team’s best young pitchers from the time he made his major-league debut in 1958.

He showed promise of being so good, in fact, that the Indians apparently believed they would be unable to afford his salary and, thus dealt him (OK, gave him) away to the Twins on June 15, 1964. At the time the franchise was owned by William R. Daley, and Gabe Paul was general manager.

In exchange for Grant, the Indians received Lee Stange, a pitcher who would continue to have an undistinguished career the next two seasons in Cleveland; George Banks, an equally undistinguished third baseman/ outfielder; and an undisclosed amount of cash (don’t forget the money!)

Fast forward to the present.

Grant, while dealing with several infirmities, including diabetes, arthritis, and knee problems, stays active in a variety of charitable endeavors. Many of them involve African American athletes on behalf of children around the country. Among them is one he founded, the “Thirteen Black Aces Foundation,” which comprises the 13 African American pitchers who won 20 games in the major leagues.

Mudcat, of course, is one of them. The others: Vida Blue, Al Downing, Bob Gibson, Dwight Gooden, Ferguson Jenkins, Sad Sam Jones, Don Newcombe, Mike Norris, J.R. Richard, Dave Stewart, Dontrelle Willis, and Earl Wilson.

“We produce products—lithographs, posters, and the like, including a book that’s being written [by Grant]—that are sold to raise money for charitable organizations.”

Grant also heads a marketing company, BGAT Slugger, that, he said, “holds baseball clinics, among other fund-raising events … anything we can do to influence kids and motivate them in terms of education.”

In addition, Grant serves in various capacities with the Negro League Hall of Fame, Baseball Assistance Team, and Major League Baseball Alumni Association, among others, in support of former players who are not well off financially.

Until he was slowed by physical problems, Grant also was active in the entertainment business. As a singer and dancer, he and his group toured the country as “Mudcat and the Kittens” and in 2004 gave concerts in both Europe and the U.S.

Grant and his second wife, Gertrude, whom he met in Vienna, Austria, and married in 1975, make their home in the Los Angeles area. He has five children from his first marriage, including a son, James Timothy Grant III, who lives in the Cleveland area.

“I loved the Indians and I always thought they loved me, until—apparently—they couldn’t afford me,” said Grant, whose 14-year major league won-lost record was 145-119 with a 3.63 earned run average in 571 games.

“Cleveland was the only place I liked almost as much as Lacoochee,” which was Mudcat’s hometown in Florida.

He still harbors a painful memory of the day he was dealt to Minnesota. “The Twins were in [Cleveland] when I was traded, but nobody told me about it. I went to my locker in the clubhouse and there was nothing there. It was bare. I asked the clubbie [clubhouse attendant], and he said, ‘Your stuff is in the Twins’ clubhouse.’ I asked him, ‘What’s it doing over there?’ and he said, ‘You’ve been traded to Minnesota.’ “He’s the one who told me. Nobody from the front office, or [Indians interim manager George Strickland] bothered to tell me.

“I went to the Twins’ clubhouse and, sure enough, my stuff was there. Apparently they made the deal the night before. I didn’t know what to say to anybody, so I didn’t [say anything]. I just got dressed and walked out on the field. Some fans asked me, ‘What are you doing in that uniform?’ and all I could say was that I got traded.”

Grant flourished with the Twins (in 1964-67) and went on to pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1968), Montreal and St. Louis (1969), and Oakland and Pittsburgh (1970-71).

With the Twins in 1965 he became the first African American pitcher to win 20 games in the American League (when his record was 21-7), and pitched them into the World Series. He became an ace reliever the last two years of his career and was credited with 53 saves, including 24 with the Athletics in 1970. He is one of only seven pitchers in major league history to win 20 games in one season and save 20 victories in another.

Ironically, just as it was financial trouble that caused the Indians to trade Grant, he ran into similar problems in Minnesota with owner Calvin Griffith. After leading the Twins to their first pennant after the franchise’s move to Minneapolis, Grant asked for a $4,500 raise, a modest sum by today’s standard, but was promptly rejected. “Calvin asked me, ‘Mud, how much was your share from the World Series?’ I said it was $4,500, and he said, ‘Well, if I give you $2,000, that’ll be $6,500 more than you made last year.’

“I told him to shove it and that I was going home to Lacoochee. He told me, ‘We can negotiate,’ but he kept telling me he couldn’t pay me what I wanted so I got a cab—we were in Florida for spring training at the time—and I went home. That convinced the Twins I was serious, and they called me back and gave me a $13,000 raise.”

Grant didn’t say how much that boosted his salary, but six years later, in 1971 with Pittsburgh (his final season in baseball), he was paid $82,000, a career high.

That also was five years before free agency came into being, when players gained the right to sell their services to the highest bidders. Soon thereafter most became millionaires.

“I’m not bitter that I wasn’t around when the big money came in,” said Grant. “But I hope players today realize that one of the reasons they’re doing so well is because of what we did in the past. Our hard work and sacrifices helped them get where they are.”

After he retired as a player, Grant worked for the Indians in community relations and also was a member of their broadcasting team from 1972 into the early 1980s. He later did some television work for the Dodgers and the Athletics.

Looking back, Grant said, “The high point of my major-league career took place before it even started. It was the night I signed a major-league contract with the Indians in 1958, and I thought about all the African American players who had preceded me … Jackie Robinson and Larry Doby and Luke Easter and Don Newcombe and Monte Irvin and Joe Black and so many others.

“We didn’t have a telephone in my home [in Lacoochie] at that time, so I wrote my mother a letter and told her, ‘Mom, I made it!’—even though it took three days for her to get it.” 

 

Author’s note

This article is excerpted from Whatever Happened to “Super Joe”? (softcover $14.95/294 pages), 2006 by Russell Schneider. Reprinted with permission of Gray & Company, Publishers. The book is available online from Amazon.com.