Jim's death is one of the more tragic stories in Orioles history. He was only 48 at the time of his death on March 9, 1991 when the propeller failed on the plane he was flying and the plane crashed. From what I could find about the crash, it sounds as though Jim steered the plane away from a baseball field where kids were playing and instead crash landed in an unoccupied construction site. He is at least the second Oriole to die in a plane crash, the other was Tom Gastall in 1956. Jim's family does a great job of keeping his memory alive by maintaining a tribute website about his life and career.
Jim pitched in the Major Leagues from 1967-72 and was with the Orioles from '67-mid '71. He was a member of the 1970 World Series Championship O's but didn't appear in a game during the series. Over his five seasons in Baltimore, he went 38-28 with a 2.95 ERA, and won a career high 18 games during the '68 season.
As far as this card goes, it looks like Jim had a pretty clear signature, and really accentuated the J & H at the start of his name. Unfortunately, the pen Jim signed with was running out of ink, but I'm just happy to have his autograph at all.
RIP Jim.
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