Friday, March 12, 2010

"The Orioles Integrator"

Jehosie "Jay" Heard 1954 (died 1999)

This is one of my new favorite autographs in my collection. I really like these '54 Topps cards and to have any Orioles card that is 56 years old, let alone have it signed, is pretty awesome. Look at that awesome bird logo on his hat and the sweet Oriole on a ball logo in the corner. This card is truly great.

Jay was a member of the inaugural 1954 Birds but only appeared in 2 games for them and pitched a total of 3.1 innings. His place in Orioles history mostly lies with the fact that he was the first black player to play for the O's, making his debut on April 24, 1954. He was their "integrator", if you will. I'm not positive that's a word but it sounds good to me and works for my purposes.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's a really great looking card. I love the old logo.

Orioles Magic said...

Thanks Paul, I'm a pretty big fan myself. It would be nice if the current team would use it in some capacity.