Larry Jaster Autographed Card

Larry Jaster's name is synonymous with a few noteworthy achievements in baseball.

First, in his official rookie season in 1966, he led the National League with 5 shutouts. Of note, all five came in consecutive starts against the same team, the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was the second time a Major League pitcher shut out the same team five times in the same year (a feat GroverCleveland "Ol' Pete" Alexander had accomplished against the Cincinnati Reds in 1916), but no one had ever done it consecutively - nor has it happened since.

Then, there's the fact that he appeared in back-to-back World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1967 and 1968, winning in his first year and surrendering the series-ending grand slam to his hometown Detroit Tigers in his second go-round.

And, upon being selected by the Montréal Expos in the expansion draft, Jaster became the first MLB pitcher to throw in a regular-season game in Canada, helping beat the Cards.

I doubt I was aware of all these facts when he signed this card in black ball-point pen for me when I was a child, possibly during an evening where the Expos were commemorating their original stadium at Parc Jarry:

That's card #124 from Topps' 1970 Topps set, showing him pretending to wind up in the team's classic white (home) uniform. His #21 uniform sets him up perfectly for entry in my Expos Numbers Project.