1965 Topps #16 Houston Rookie Stars - Joe Morgan / Sonny Jackson
On this card: Joe Morgan, Sonny Jackson
About this card
This is one of the 55 Rookie Stars cards in the 1965 Topps set, each picturing two to four young players - 126 players in all - under a team banner, except #577 and #581, which carry American League and National League banners over players from three clubs. Joe Morgan (#16), Steve Carlton (#477), Jim (Catfish) Hunter (#526) and Tony Perez (#581) make their Topps debuts on these cards.
The story on this card
Joe Morgan's first Topps card is a 1965 Rookie Stars combo, #16, pairing him with fellow Houston rookie Sonny Jackson under a plain HOUSTON pennant from the club's Colt .45s-to-Astros rebrand. Topps printed it off a September 1963 callup and a ten-game 1964 trial rather than anything Morgan had done as a regular; within months he would win the starting second-base job and finish runner-up for National League Rookie of the Year. It stands today as his true rookie card and a key card of the set. Joe Morgan was the Astros' young second baseman of the mid-1960s who blossomed, after a trade to Cincinnati, into the Big Red Machine's igniter: back-to-back National League MVP in 1975 and 1976, five straight Gold Gloves, and a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1990.
In 1965 Jackson barely saw the field for the newly renamed Houston Astros, getting into 10 games with three hits in 23 at-bats. His card in the 1965 Topps set, #16, belongs to the first print series. It is a Houston Rookie Stars issue he shares with fellow Houston infielder Joe Morgan, which makes it a key rookie card of the set. The pennant on the front reads simply HOUSTON, the first year after the Colt .45's name was retired. Sonny Jackson was a speed-first shortstop for Houston and Atlanta whose 1966 rookie season brought a .292 average, a league-leading 160 singles and 49 stolen bases, tying a major league rookie record that had stood since 1910.
Sources: Wikipedia (Joe Morgan) · Wikipedia (Sonny Jackson) · SABR BioProject
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 5,762 | 2 | 86 | 591 | 794 | 1,084 | 987 | 2,135 | 83 |
| SGC | 2,621 | 0 | 10 | 44 | 156 | 316 | 579 | 1,380 | 136 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted. The two checklist variations, #79 and #508, are listed under the wording PSA uses for each state.
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Related cards
More Houston Astros cards:
- #31 Mike White
- #48 Claude Raymond
- #80 Turk Farrell
- #109 Walt Bond
- #164 Al Spangler
- #175 Bob Aspromonte
- #179 Hal Woodeshick
- #212 Ron Brand
- #240 Bob Bruce
- #257 Jim Wynn
- #274 Lum Harris
- #292 Larry Yellen
- #321 Rusty Staub
- #359 Ken Johnson
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #16 card?
It is card #16 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Joe Morgan and Sonny Jackson. This is one of the 55 Rookie Stars cards in the 1965 Topps set, each picturing two to four young players - 126 players in all - under a team banner, except #577 and #581, which carry American League and National League banners over players from three clubs. Joe Morgan (#16), Steve Carlton (#477), Jim (Catfish) Hunter (#526) and Tony Perez (#581) make their Topps debuts on these cards.
Is 1965 Topps #16 a rookie card?
Yes - #16 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Joe Morgan and Sonny Jackson.
Why does the #16 pennant read HOUSTON with no nickname?
The Colt .45s became the Astros in December 1964. Morgan and Jackson still wear .45s caps in their photos, but the pennant names no nickname - it reads a bare HOUSTON. Five early cards (#16, 31, 48, 80, 109) carry that bare pennant; #164 Al Spangler is the first card with an ASTROS pennant.
What are the key cards in the 1965 Topps set?
The #350 Mickey Mantle is the grail of the set. The other major keys are #250 Willie Mays, #300 Sandy Koufax, #170 Hank Aaron, #160 Roberto Clemente (printed "Bob" Clemente), #207 Pete Rose, #510 Ernie Banks and #460 Richie (Dick) Allen, plus four Hall of Fame rookies on Rookie Stars cards: #16 Joe Morgan, #477 Steve Carlton, #526 Jim (Catfish) Hunter and #581 Tony Perez. The short-printed cards inside #523-598 are the hardest to find.
How many cards are in the 1965 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 600 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps and no printed-number collisions, and two checklist cards - #79 and #508 - carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball Almanac, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-11.