1965 Topps #433 John Bateman
About John Bateman
This card comes from the sixth series. His rookie card came in 1963. The Astros name is new here, and so was the Astrodome. Bateman reported overweight, went through a two-week reducing program and rebuilt his stance, then opened hot: two homers in a 3-1 win over Pittsburgh on April 18, and a .400 average when he moved ahead of Ron Brand into the starting role on April 23. Then it vanished - six hits in 59 at-bats, a pulled groin, and a June option to Oklahoma City. He finished the big-league year at .197 in 45 games, but hit 21 homers for the 89ers and caught them to the Pacific Coast League title.
John Alvin Bateman was a right-handed-hitting catcher, born July 21, 1940, at Fort Sill, the Army post at Lawton, Oklahoma, and raised by his aunt Jewel and her husband, Raymond Priest. After a letter-writing campaign to big-league clubs won him a tryout, Houston signed him in March 1962 and sent him to their Class C Modesto affiliate, where he hit .280 with 21 home runs. He had shaved two years off his age to sign, and rosters listed his birth year as 1942 for the rest of his career. General manager Paul Richards compared his throwing arm to that of Hall of Famer Gabby Hartnett, and he was in Houston by 1963, but weight, injuries and a free swing kept the job moving between him, Jerry Grote and Ron Brand, with two demotions to Oklahoma City along the way. His best year was 1966: .279 with 17 home runs and 70 RBIs. Montreal took him in the 1968 expansion draft, and he caught Bill Stoneman's no-hitter in the club's first season. Traded to Philadelphia in June 1972, he caught the rest of Steve Carlton's Cy Young season; the Phillies released him in January 1973. He finished at .230 with 81 homers and 375 RBIs over ten seasons, and died in Oklahoma in 1996.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · The Hardball Times
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 202 | 0 | 37 | 103 | 32 | 13 | 8 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 9 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
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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- #164 Al Spangler
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #433 card?
It is card #433 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Bateman of the Houston Astros.
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.