The Immaculate Grid and Baseball's Best Fifth Round Draft Picks, 1965 - 69

I'm a consistent Immaculate Grid player and use whatever cards litter my desk as "original sources" to plug in names. On Halloween 2023, the grid-makers added a curveball for game #212 with "First Round Draft Pick," something they introduced on earlier versions for football and basketball. I filled in six squares with familiar names and then observed the 1940s and 50s cards on my desk lacked any draft info, leaving me cold. I threw in three guesses, missing on Rick Ankiel and Keith Hernandez, and counted myself lucky to get Barry Zito.

One problem with high picks: many first show up as low picks in earlier years. Barry Zito's "first round pick" (Oakland, 1999) came after earlier attempts in the 59th (Seattle, 1996) and third (Texas, 1998). Many skilled draftees delay signing to play college ball or otherwise develop their skills, reentering the draft in later years.

Draft picks do show up from time-to-time on baseball sets, including something I pinched myself for forgetting, the 1985 Topps subset of active #1 picks.

Check out 30 Year-Old Cardboard's subset profile for all 12

I've used Shawn Abner for Immaculate Grid before at the intersection of Padres, Angels, or White Sox and the trick is that he never played in the bigs for New York. A trade of multiple players, including Kevin McReynolds, moved Abner to SD, where he debuted in 1987. Donruss went all-in by giving Shawn his own "Baseball's Best" card after just 16 games the prior year. The weight of great expectations!

Any memory of Abner's #1 pick card would've helped my IG score, since 2% is far better than the 100-point penalty for missed guesses.

My "what if" Mets row

Interesting that Abner qualified as a Met, since other Immaculate Grid categories require players log at least one team appearance in that uniform. It appears their "first round draft pick" considers selection alone, opening up more obscure answers for MLB draftees who reached the bigs with other clubs. (Most first-rounders get at least a cup of coffee, given how much teams commit to that pick.)

Roger moved fast, from 1983 #1 pick to 1984 in Boston

1985 Topps, and others like it, knit draft status into that tiny bio text. MLB's current amateur selection process ("The Rule 4 Draft") started in 1965 and Topps added relevant info to card backs a decade later in 1976.

1976 card for one member of the inaugural Rule 4 draft 

Those top-tier picks often achieve great things, in terms of stats and accolades, so let's hunt for hidden treasure by finding our best fifth-rounders from the amateur draft's initial years, 1965 to 1969.

1965: Amos Otis (42.8 WAR, 5x All-Star, 3x Gold Glove)

Otis ranked among baseball's best 1970s outfielders and helped KC reach the postseason five times. His cards also show off how good those powder blues can look, year after year.

1966: Dave Cash (25.6 WAR, 3x All-Star, 1971 World Series champ, "Action Dog" nickname)

Dave played almost every day 1971-78, first for Pittsburgh's title winners, and then for an improving Phillies team that won the NL East in 1976. Teammates often mentioned his reliable defense and esprit de corps in the clubhouse.

Dave appears at card shows these days and a trading friend came away with a dollar bill signed by Cash & (Don) Money at the same National. They each seemed amused by the pun.

1967: Dave Goltz (23.1 WAR, 1981 World Series champ)

Dave lingered in the low minors for several years before debuting in 1972 for a 77-77 Twins club by going 3-3. Goltz registered .500 W/L records three more times in the next four years before breaking through with 20 wins in 1977 and still ranks in Minnesota's franchise top-10 for strikeouts. (Remove numbers from the Washington Senators and he'd be even higher.)

My favorite Goltz cards hail from the same 1978 Topps set, first autographing something for a fan and then sharing space with three other excellent hurlers.

1968: Burt Hooton (35.5 WAR, 1981 All-Star, 1981 World Series champ)

Hooton split the 1970s between Chicago and LA, where he and Goltz ended up as teammates on the title-winning 1981 Dodgers squad. Burt spread his 151 career wins across 15 seasons and spring training card photos from Dodgertown, Florida come to my mind first.

His last name's pronounced /WHO-ten/, which led to a 1975 Hostess "Hooten" error, later corrected.

1969: Dwight Evans (67.2 WAR, 3x All-Star, 8x Gold Glove, 2x Silver Slugger)

"Get yourself someone who can do both," as the saying goes, and Evans sure could hit and flash leather in the outfield. He rates best of these 1965-69 fifth-round picks and many say Cooperstown-worthy. (Hall of Famers Al Kaline, Billy Williams, and Tony Perez all rank in Dewey's top-10 similarity scores.)

My favorite Evans cards sport the bushy mustache, eyebrows, and/or eye black. While one last year in Baltimore "spoiled" his 19 years in Boston for Red Sox fans, he continued to get on base ~40% of the time and ranks #29 all-time in walks (1391), leading the AL three times.

More picks coming!

I'll continue this theme and see what kind of team we can build from fifth-round draft picks, given this solid starting five.

• SP: Goltz, Hooton
• RP: TBD
• C: TBD
• 1B: TBD
• 2B: Cash
• 3B: TBD
• SS: TBD
• OF: Otis, Evans, TBD

Baseball's Top 5 Non-All-Stars (Pitching Edition)

How many trips to the mound must a man walk before you call him an All-Star? Some do it a hundred thousand times without ever getting in. Others suit up for the Rays, do not-so-bad for a year, and nab that one-player-per-team selection.

Your 2003 Tampa Bay All-Star, Lance Carter

There's no magic solution to getting chosen at the midyear break, but steady performance, peer recognition, and a little "Frankie Zak" all help. Today's post salutes the hurlers who stretched, warmed up, and threw the pill, year after year, without coalescing the intangibles into an All-Star berth. I took the All-Star ERA (1933-present), queried for pitchers who'd never been selected, and sorted by a common equalizing measure, WAR. Here are the top 5; full results at B-R.

1. Tom Candiotti (42.6 career WAR)

1984 Topps #262, Tom "Candy Man" Candiotti

Wins Above Replacement (WAR), what is it good for? It's good for Tom Candiotti, who ranks highest in career total for pitchers without an All-Star resume. Critics would say most of it (30 WAR from 1988-93) came from franchises who needed more help, but few pitchers had better stuff than Tom Candiotti's knuckler in its prime. (And few collectors have better cards: check out his prewar collection in Tom's "Best of the Best" at PSA.)

These days, Candiotti does commentary for the Diamondbacks, telling stories between game action. One curiosity is whether Ramon Martinez plunked Jeff Kent for Tom's rotisserie league, cited as a reason the Candy Man stopped playing fantasy sports. Is it true? Did Ramon send New York's red-hot second-baseman to the infirmary to improve his teammate's chances at pretend baseball? No, not exactly.

Tom said this story happened in an early 90s New York road game and LA pitcher Ramon Martinez did hit Kent in the second inning on April 30, 1994 (box score). That's still his first at-bat, so we can forgive Tom's "first inning" muff, but our real question is whether Ramon heard a bullpen conversation and decided to knock Jeff out. Unfortunately (for the story), Ramon hit Jeff on on the 5th pitch, hardly a sign of killer intent, and the at-bat followed a Bobby Bonilla homer, itself a more likely brushback trigger. Kent went on to finish the game without apparent ill effects and there's nothing to imply Ramon's countrymen went on a spree of targeting him thereafter.

But speaking of hit batsmen, who did plunk Jeff Kent with pitches more often than anyone else? Yup, it was yarn-spinner Tom Candiotti.

2. Danny Darwin (40.6 career WAR)

1991 O-Pee-Chee #666, Danny Darwin

Guys with high WAR totals but no All-Star appearances tend to be above-average, well-traveled, and durable, which fits Darwin to the letter. I even see it in his face: "Oh, I'm with the Red Sox now? OK, let's go."

Danny turned great 1990 numbers with Houston (5.3 WAR & NL ERA title) into a 4-year, $10 million free agent contract with Boston, where he managed one more excellent year in 1993, posting 5.7 WAR. Perhaps those peak seasons came late enough in Darwin's career (age 34 and 37 respectively) that they didn't stand out to managers when filling out their All-Star rotations.

3. Fritz Ostermueller (34.5 career WAR)

1934 Goudey Big League Gum #93, Fred (Fritz) Ostermueller

This lunchpail 1930s & 40s pitcher might ring a bell because his name resurfaced in the Jackie Robinson biopic 42. Near the end, Jackie pays back Ostermueller's racist beaning with a dramatic homer, the essence of skill trumping discrimination that's both satisfying and very Hollywood.

Fritz's daughter protests today that "[i]t didn't happen that way," as her father expected to pitch inside on May 17, 1947 (box score), despite Jackie's own habit of crowding the plate, and brought no racial animosity to the mound. Robinson's mid-September homer off Ostermueller (box score) came well after Brooklyn wrapped up the pennant, so it's a stretch to connect both moments without artificially linking them to some larger issue, something movies have a deserved reputation for doing.

Making Fritz an on-screen goat is a cheap choice, but the writers might've lacked options once they decided to stick with 1947 as Jackie's only celluloid season. (As an inherited Dodgers fan, I was hankering for a stretch into 1955, when Brooklyn won its only title.)

The real Ostermueller's career peaked early (11.6 WAR from age 26-28) and late (14.9 WAR from 36-40). Fritz changed teams and pitching roles several times, which would've reduced visibility at All-Star time and explains his third spot here.

4. John Tudor (34.3 career WAR)

1985 Topps Traded #124, John Tudor

In 1985, Tudor led the NL in shutouts (10), posted career-highs with 185 ERA+ and 8.1 WAR, and in any other year would've carried home the NL Cy Young (career stats). Unfortunately for John, his best efforts coincided with this guy.

1985 Topps #620, Dwight Gooden

Doc was 1985's unanimous NL Cy Young award winner, posting a 12.1 (!) WAR and foiling John Tudor's best shot at the lasting notoriety and higher profile that helps in future All-Star selection. For his career, I suspect Tudor was OK with winning a ring (1988 Dodgers), earning several million dollars throwing baseballs, and not riding Gooden's cocaine roller coaster across the sports pages.

5. Charlie Leibrandt (34.3 career WAR)

1987 Topps #223, Charlie Leibrandt

Leibrandt faded into my mental background after Kansas City won their 1985 title. He became one of those guys you think will always stick around, always pitch, always fill out the back end of a staff. Then, one day, he's on the list of first-year HOF eligibles, and then he gets no votes, and that's about it for baseball pitchers like Charlie Leibrandt. Work hard for a couple decades, get your MLBPA union pension, and pick out some post-career interests.

Charlie didn't possess the shutout threat of John Tudor or longevity of Danny Darwin and his best awards finish, #5 on the 1985 AL Cy Young ballot, trailed two guys on the same KC staff. Consider his footnote a nutshell version of today's list, as last in a line of pitchers who were good enough for long enough that being 25th-best Royal of All-Time is the suit that fits best.

Favorite Variations and World Wide Winner

Thanks for nominating great variations and permutations in my final 2013 National Wrap-Up! I'll run down each choice, add my own favorite to the end, and pick a winner for 1934 World Wide Gum #5.

1. Gil Hodges Passes Away

Sean Langon started with a card of significance to many, the 1972 Topps & O-Pee-Chee Gil Hodges.

1972 O-Pee-Chee #465 Gil Hodges (with note)

GCRL compared the Topps/OPC versions on his blog, but the short story is OPC must've edited their set later, so added a tag to let young collectors know why Hodges wasn't on the field anymore.

My dad's a big fan of the Dodgers and loved Hodges and Brooklyn's other Boys of Summer. Gil passed away the day before I was born, making it easy to link childhood stories to baseball and vice-versa.

2. Upper Deck Flips Dale Murphy

Classon of Adventures in 1952 Topps picked an infamous early Upper Deck chase card, the reversed Dale Murphy.

1989 Upper Deck #357, Dale Murphy (correct & reversed)

Radicards discussed the collecting environment that led people to buy pack after pack, hoping to score a well-known error that might've been intentional. The chase for errors and rookies eventually pushed companies to create parallels and other subsets for every issue, rather than depend on collectors themselves to find and hype company "mistakes." However Murphy's card happened, it's a stepping stone to today's collecting environment.

3. Billy Ripken

Some cards grow to outshine a player's own career, even guys with Hall of Fame last names. Greg Zakwin of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle nominated the infamous half of the only brother team to play for their manager father, Cal, Sr: Billy Ripken.

1989 Fleer #616, Bill Ripken (original)

Wikipedia quotes Fleer as creating "at least ten variations" to deal with Billy's batting practice bat expletive. See the "Versions" link at BillRipken.com for a full rundown of far more than I expected to see. At one point, obscure versions booked $100+ and all permutations continue to sell for well above Cal's own card from the same set.

4. Player I have Player I want!

Fellow OBC vintage collector Jason Chistopherson nominated his take on the "Minnie Minoso to Manny Mota" card I recently upgraded to a plain old Minoso. Let's say you have a 1953 George Crowe, but he leaves after a few years and now Felix Mantilla plays for the Braves. There's an easy solution!

1953 Topps #3, George Crowe Felix Mantilla

Sure am glad I finally found that Felix Mantilla card, yessir.

5. Wait, isn't that...?

Hackenbush of Can't Have Too Many Cards noted how Topps created accidental variations by putting the wrong photo on the right card.

1963 Topps #113, Ron Santo / Don Landrum

That's Santo's large photo, Landrum on the inset, and I bet Cubs collectors dream of finding a double-autograph version. (Landrum passed away in 2003 and Santo in 2010, so there's a good shot of at least one kicking around.)

Ron's normal card #252 is Santo through and through.

6. Cards that go Bump in Toronto Texas

Night Owl (of the eponymous card blog) called out the first variation I remember as a young collector, Topps' errant forecast of an off-season trade from Texas to Toronto.

1979 Topps #368, Bump Wills

Bronx Banter delved into the insider rumors that fed Topps' mistake, complete with recollection from the seminal Sy Berger. This card doubly stood out to me when Bump's father Maury Wills took over my Mariners for the 1980 season. Despite Maury's "unmitigated disaster" as the man in charge, having both father and son active in the same AL division gave games against Texas some extra sizzle.

7. Two Ted Williams, two Jackie Robinsons, two Mickey Mantles...

At one point, I sought to build a "master version" of my favorite set, 1956 Topps, an issue rife with multiple backs, dated-or-undated team cards, and minor print layout variations. The primary focus is on card stock for #1-180, which came in white or grey. Buying both backs for the type collection meant paying twice for this guy.

1956 Topps #5, Ted Williams

Here're the other HOF and star variations from that series that you need (at least) two of.

• #10 Warren Spahn
• #15 Ernie Banks
• #20 Al Kaline
• #30 Jackie Robinson
• #31 Hank Aaron
• #33 Roberto Clemente
• #79 Sandy Koufax
• #101 Roy Campanella
• #107 Eddie Mathews
• #110 Yogi Berra
• #113 Phil Rizzuto
• #118 Nellie Fox
• #120 Richie Ashburn
• #130 Willie Mays
• #135 Mickey Mantle
• #145 Gil Hodges
• #150 Duke Snider
• #164 Harmon Killebrew
• #165 Red Shoendienst
• #166 Dodgers team
• #180 Robin Roberts

I eventually ditched the master set goal because DAMN that's a lot of card spending. It's an admirable long-term goal to pursue and includes terrific variations along the way, but remains an expensive road to travel.

GIVEAWAY WINNER: I should probably send an obscure 1930s Canadian card to everyone as reward for reading this far. But since I have just one spare Flint Rhem, let's roll a virtual six-sided die.

RANDOM.ORG GENERATED 5 AS THE NUMBER, NOT A JOKE.

Congrats to Hackenbush, who nets the Flint Rhem with that 1963 Santo/Landrum nomination! Will contact him for a current address and thanks to everyone else for entering, I enjoyed poking around the history of those variations.

2002 SP Authentic Prospects Baseball #P-MS, Marco (Marcos) Scutaro

Born in Yaracuy, Venezuela on October 30, 1975, World Series champion Marco Scutaro. Like many good glove infield journeymen before him, this year's success follows ten years spent in a multitude of uniforms, cities, and hotels; even his Prospects card can't decide between the Brewers and Mets.

Today's card shows Marco as a Brewer because he spent 2000-01 in their farm system, but names him as a Met, where he debuted as a big leaguer in 2002. Not sure how Upper Deck planned this release, as Scutaro's signature is just a white card under that windowed cut-out; collectors almost always want on-card signatures with photos that match the team. I suspect card makers anxious to get rookies on the market try to get autographs from everyone with a pro contract and put less concern into the set design itself.

Scutaro's 14-for-28 hitting and solid fielding against St. Louis netted the 36 year-old his first hardware, the 2012 NLCS MVP, a nice shelf companion to the Giants championship ring. March's go-ahead knock in game 4 was the first World Series RBI in extra-innings by a Giants player since Dusty Rhodes in 1954, who won game 1 with a walk-off homer (box score). Topps honored his august accomplishment with their first card in 1955.

1955 Topps #1, Dusty Rhodes

Topps had good reason to salute Dusty, as they and the Giants were both still in New York. Putting a relocated team hero like Marco on 2013 card #1 is wishful thinking, but would make a nice birthday present. Congrats to San Francisco fans; the rest of us look forward to next spring!

1967 Topps Baseball Stand-Ups #5, Ron Swoboda

Who's ready for more Topps test issues? Finally found a proof scan for this obscure and pricy Stand-Ups set on eBay last week and its #5 type card features a guy New York fans know best as a member of the 1969 Miracle Mets.

Proof card front, no die-cut (blank back)

Stand-Ups rank as the rarest non-standard 1967 Topps issue, behind comparatively plentiful 5"x7" Pin-Ups (set profile) and peel-off stickers for two teams (Pirates and Red Sox set profiles). It's hard to find much info about their production process, as it's almost certain they never saw life outside of a Topps print shop.

Robert Edwards Auctions sold a few 1967 Stand-Ups over the years, both of uncut proofs like the scan above and some thicker, rarer die-cuts. Their $41K auction for 12 die-cut versions included this set commentary.

"Rarer and more desirable [are the] thick die-cut variety, which is the form in which the cards were actually intended to be issued (as opposed to thin proof cards cut from sheets). 1967 Topps Stand-Ups are one of the rarest and most intriguing of all 1960s Topps issues. It is almost certain that these cards were never issued to the public, and their astounding rarity is consistent with this speculation...the cards were produced on one-quarter inch thick cardboard stock which has been die-cut punched. The design allows the player's head to be punched out of the black background. Additional small punched-out pieces along the bottom of the card, when properly used, were intended to allow the player's head to stand for display."

In other words, pick die-cut over "plain" proofs when you're sifting through those 25-cent "test issues" boxes at card shows!

This group scan from the auction illustrates the die-cutting, punch-out "head stands," and some amazing teeth on Don Drysdale. Its full checklist includes 24 floating heads.

UPDATE: Here's how the stand separates from the frame. You then insert a player plaque into its center notch for creepy, floating head display.

Value: eBay seller Irishhosta listed the #5 proof for $2500 on eBay, the first time I've seen it outside of an auction house. (Their lot went unsold.) Choice quote from its listing: "No major grading company has ever professionally encapsulated a single specimen of Ron Swoboda." I vote we keep Mr. Swoboda in one piece, thanks.

Fakes / reprints: Haven't seen any fakes in the market, but they're so valuable and simple in design it's possible they exist. I recommend buying from dealers who are willing to guarantee the purchase price.

1969 Globe Imports Playing Cards Baseball #5, Willie McCovey, Earl Wilson, Bud Harrelson, Met Stottlemyre

I've seen today's playing card set throughout my two decades of collecting, often mixed into odds-and-ends quarter boxes at shows or set aside for team collectors. It wasn't until recently, however, that an SCD taught me they're an "official" set--printed by the Globe Imports company--and not just a fan project made with old photos and copy machines.

Printed with blank backs and no company info, these small (~1.5" x 2") cards come on cheap paper and look like a one-weekend job. Globe Imports distributed them via gas stations in southern states and they might not've been an MLB-approved product. Baseball's players union started licensing player images in the late 1960s, so Globe might've paid them for the photos instead of working through team ownership. Or they might've told (and paid) no one, as hinted by an example below.

Most of the set's 52 suited cards match up to one player, but a handful get two variations.

• 3 Hearts: Tony Conigliaro, Don Drysdale
• 3 Clubs: Jerry Koosman, Mike McCormick
• Ace Clubs: Richie Allen, Yaz
• Ace Diamonds: Bob Gibson, Babe Ruth
• 2 Spades: Denny McClain, Cesar Tovar
• Ace Spades: Ken Harrelson, Mickey Mantle

There's also a joker, making 59 cards in all. See the PSA registry for a master set checklist and several scans.

Bud's one of the few players with a head-on photo. Unfortunately, this shot also confirms another reason Globe cards get the hairy eye from collectors: it's a direct copy of 1967 Topps #306.

Not every card took an existing Topps image, but even one is enough to make me think Globe wanted to make a quick buck and copied available newspaper, media, and card photos. (Know more about the set's history? Add your voice to the comments.)

Value: The KeyMan Collectibles profile named four key players: Drysdale, Mantle, Mays, and Yaz, which might cost a few dollars. Most singles belong in quarter boxes, thanks to poor production quality and low demand.

Fakes / reprints: It'd be easy to reproduce these grainy, black-and-white cards with modern equipment, so I hope their low value keeps people out of that mindset.

1979 TCMA Tidewater Tides Baseball #5, Jeff Reardon

Mets AAA affiliate Tidewater played at a pitcher-friendly International League park in 1979, finishing worst in runs scored and best in runs allowed. That staff featured bona fide future stars Jesse Orosco, Mike Scott, and Jeff Reardon, the latter two finding success further from New York's bright lights. (As of 2025, today's guest is 12th on the all-time saves list, slotted between Papelbon and Percival.)

Jeff's bland, ill-fitting Tides uniform made me think of Dirk Hayhurst's Out of My League. Among many other vignettes, Dirk tells the tale of minor leaguers jockeying for uniform pieces prior to opening day. Non-MLB teams watch their bottom line closely and don't splurge on--just one example--fitted pants. The more you know! (And his book helps you know a lot.)

Jeff's hometown is close to (but not quite) the stated Pittsfield, MA. The nearby Dalton raised Reardon and dedicated him a ball park in 1990, pictured in the home state Red Sox cap he wore from 1990-92.

25 players appear in the full Tidewater Tides set, including Letterman Top-10 List favorite Mookie Wilson.

1. Roy Lee Jackson
2. John Pacella
3. Jose Moreno
4. Frank Verdi
5. Jeff Reardon
6. Dwight Bernard
7. Mookie Wilson
8. Butch Benton
9. Ron Washington
10. Jim Buckner
11. Dan Norman
12. Mario Ramirez
13. Marshall Brant
14. Ed Cipot
15. Mike Scott
16. Stan Hough
17. Scott Holman
18. Kelvin Chapman
19. Mike Van De Casteele
20. Greg Pavlick
21. Bobby Bryant
22. Russell Clark
23. Jesse Orosco
24. Bob Gorinski
25. Earl Stephenson

Cardboard Zoo compiled a bunch of info for this TCMA set in 2011 and pointed, in turn, back here. Watch that you don't get caught in a link-following vortex!

Value: Semi-stars like Reardon run more than typical TCMA singles and this #5 cost $6 at a dealer on Beckett Marketplace.

Fakes / reprints: While I haven't seen any in the marketplace, future stars like Reardon do offer more risk of fakery once they reach MLB fame.

1968 O-Pee-Chee Baseball Pin-Ups (aka Posters) #5, Cleon Jones

Cleon Jones, 1969 All-Star and key member of the Miracle Mets (series highlights at SABR), made his first oddball set appearance in these Topps posters (a.k.a., All-Star Pin-Ups), which the company inserted singly into 1967 wax packs as late-season enticements for kids. O-Pee-Chee replicated this promotion for their own release in 1968, so Cleon got a second trip to the plate.

Fitting the 5"x7" poster size next to regular cards meant folding them into quarters; the detailed scan shows light creases at the mid-points. T.C.G. is Topps Chewing Gum on that tagline and PTD. IN CANADA draws a line in the snow between O-Pee-Chee and Topps posters. For unknown reasons (editor mistake?), O-Pee-Chee used the same players, but changed their numbers. Cleon got lucky #13 in the U.S.A. version.

There's a lot going on here for such a straight-forward photo. First off, Cleon is one of just 32 posters, rubbing shoulders with superstars like Mantle, Mays, and Yaz (full visual checklist). And speaking of baseball royalty, that's all-timer Yogi Berra in Mets uniform on the right border. His appearance as a coach helps date the photo to 1965, as does the New York World's Fair patch on Cleon's sleeve, which the team wore from 1964-65 (more uniform info at Ultimate Mets). Final confirmation comes from the fragment of 3 (from #34) on his back, which Cleon ditched for #21 in 1966.

1964-65 Mets World's Fair sleeve patch

Cleon's the only Mets player in this poster set, perhaps by virtue of being an All-Star Rookie on 1967 Topps #165. The 1967 Topps blog rightly critiqued several of the publisher's checklist choices, but available photo quality--key for a 5"x7" release--likely drove player selection.

As mentioned above, Topps published their posters in 1967 (American set profile of #5 Carl Yastrzemski) and OPC replicated them in 1968. Canada's release schedule competed with hockey & CFL seasons, which left little time for multiple baseball series (and local fans were still a year away from the debut of Montreal's Expos).

• 1968 O-Pee-Chee CFL
• 1968 O-Pee-Chee CFL posters
• 1968-69 O-Pee-Chee Hockey

Given these other commitments, I assume OPC baseball posters went into wax packs right away, instead of using Topps' strategy as late-season perks.

Value: I found Cleon for $.50 at a show table. Lesser-known singles cost a dollar or so, but stars like Clemente and Mantle can exceed $10.

Fakes / reprints: In addition to the full set, Topps reportedly made some sticker-back proofs with the same design, but somewhat smaller. I've seen collectors mention Clemente specifically, which would be quite a find.