A "Hall of Fame" Ballot

Here is an item that I didn't even remember I had when I began this project. When I was looking through my things, I came across this 1987 All Star ballot.  The first thing I noticed was Jack Buck's autograph.

By the time I started listening to Cardinal games on the radio, Buck was already two decades into a Hall of Fame career. He would be in the KMOX booth for all of my childhood and well into my young adulthood as well.  He, as much as any player, was truly my idol and my favorite Cardinal.

When I recently took my son by Busch Stadium, I made sure to take him by the Jack Buck statue standing outside.  It's been almost a decade now since Buck passed away, and I still miss his gravelly voice and detailed descriptions.

As I looked more closely, I noticed that right below Buck's autograph is that of Joe Torre. After a very successful career that included the 1971 NL MVP, Torre is bound for Cooperstown on the strength of his managerial success which has included six AL Pennants, four World Series Championships, and over 2300 victories.

So I have autographs of two Hall or Famers here, right? No. I actually have three. Right above Buck's signature, notice the scrawl of Hall of Famer and 1967 NL MVP Orlando Cepeda. After having most of his best years with the Giants, "Cha-Cha" was traded to the Cardinals and led the Cardinals to back-to-back NL Pennants in 1967 and 1968, winning the World Series in 1967, with Cepeda taking home the hardware for the NL MVP that season. After the 1968 campaign, the Cardinals traded him to Atlanta for none other than Torre!

In order to win the 1967 Series, the Cardinals needed to defeat Red Sox ace Jim Lonborg in game 7 in Boston. Well, who else's autograph do you think can be found near the top of this ballot?  You guessed it...that of the 1967 AL Cy Young Award winner!

Tommie Agee was one of the stars of the 1969 Miracle Mets (he finished 6th in the NL MVP voting), and he also signed my ballot. Agee had one of the great games in World Series history when in game 3 of the 1969 October Classic, he hit a leadoff homer in the first off Jim Palmer, and later made two spectacular catches, likely saving five runs. The Mets would win the game 5-0 en route to defeating the highly favored Orioles in five.

You may also note that one of the more legible signers was long-time baseball man, Billy DeMars, who Pete Rose once called the best hitting coach he'd ever worked with.  There's one more at the bottom that I can't quite figure out.  Heck, I can't even tell which way to read it, so it's going to be tough, but if anyone has any ideas on who it is, I'd love to hear!

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Related story: The day I had that ballot signed was the same day I write about here.