1967 Topps Rusty Staub Mets Houston Astros

The streak is over! There were three different 1967 Topps Autographed cards in the mailbox today. The favorite of the three is that of Rusty Staub, outfielder of the Houston Astros. Card number 73 out of the set of 609 cards. The reason I chose Rusty Staub as the favorite is because finding his autographed card is difficult.

The 1967 Topps Autographed Rusty Staub was obtained from a respected dealer on ebay and arrived in quick time. This marks the 447th autographed card in my collection, still many more to go.

Rusty "Le Grande Orange" Staub's career lasted 23 years and he played on five different teams. His career started in 1963 for the Houston Colt 45's/Astros, then Montreal Expos, New York Mets, Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers. He retired in 1985 with a .279 career batting average, 2716 hits, 292 home runs and 1466 runs batted in. Rusty was named to 6 All-Star teams, inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame and the Montreal Expos retired his uniform number 10.

Rusty, Ty Cobb and Gary Sheffield share the distinction of being the only players to hit home runs before turning 20 years old, and after turning 40 years old. To learn more about Rusty Staub and his biography, go to wikipedia.org.

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1967 Topps John Bateman Houston Astros

Since the Post Office was closed for Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday, I went back into my collection to bring you this gem. This card is of John Bateman, catcher for the Houston Astros and is card number 231 out of 609. This card was obtained from a fellow collector on ebay and is the 440 autographed card in my set.

John Bateman had a 10 year career with the Houston Colt 45s/Astros, Montreal Expos and Philadelphia Phillies. He had a career average of .230, hit 81 home runs, and batted in 375 runs. Most of his career he split time with other catchers such as Jerry Grote, Ron Brand and was traded for another famous catcher Tim McCarver. He was eventually released by the Phillies to make room for Bob Boone, who went on to have a long career himself.

To read his biography, go to wikipedia.com.

1967 Topps Claude "Frenchy" Raymond Houston Astros

Today's prize is Canadian born Houston Astros pitcher Claude Raymond. Card number 364 in the set of 609 different cards in the 1967 Topps Baseball. This was purchased from a collector on ebay and is signed with a nice blue ballpoint pen. Autograph number 438 in the pursuit of the collection. Still 186 players to go.

Claude's career spanned from 1959 to 1971 and included stints at Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Braves, Atlanta Braves, Houston Colt 45's/Astros and finished his career with the Montreal Expos in his home province of Quebec. He was named to the 1966 National League All-Star. To learn more about his career, check out his biography at wikipedia.com.

If you look closely at the card, you will realize that the editors and photographers back in the 1967 season missed a particular detail. Claude "Frenchy"Raymond had this picture taken with his fly down and this card was released without that detail being caught.

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