January Autograph Pickups

[Scott Garner]

"Toothpick" Sam Jones was a negro league pitcher that joined the Cleveland Indians for a brief cup of coffee in late 1951. Jones was back in 1952 for what was his Rookie campaign of a 12 year ML career. This GPC originates from early in his rookie season. On May 12, 1955 Jones captured lightning in a bottle when he no-hit Vern Law and the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0 at Wrigley, becoming the 1st African American to hurl a no-hitter in the ML.
He also followed this game up with another rain shortened unofficial no-hitter on September 26, 1959 while he was a member of the SF Giants.

Toothpick Sam, who is frequently mistaken for another no-hit pitcher by the same name (Samuel Pond Jones), was called "Toothpick" for his propensity for always pitching with a toothpick in his mouth. Toothpick Sam was believed to be illiterate and an infrequent signer as well as dying relatively young (age 46), making his signature challenging on any medium.

I got lucky, snagging this GPC for a great price on eBay because it was mislabeled as being a signature of the more common Samuel Pond Jones.