1965 Topps #308 Mets Rookie Stars - Cleon Jones / Tom Parsons
On this card: Cleon Jones, Tom Parsons
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
This 1965 Topps #308 Rookie Stars, from the fourth series, pairs Jones with fellow Met Tom Parsons. On the field that year he opened the season on the roster, was optioned to Buffalo in May after a .156 slump, then returned to New York in September and hit his first major league home run off a Pittsburgh pitcher, finishing at .149 over 30 games. It is a recognized rookie card for Jones. Left fielder who rose from a rocky rookie stretch to anchor the 1969 'Miracle Mets,' hitting .340 that season and catching the World Series-clinching fly ball, closing a thirteen-year career mostly spent in New York.
Card 308 is a Mets Rookie Stars pairing, Parsons next to Cleon Jones, and the rookie card of Jones; it sits in the fourth series. Jones carried it: sent down to Buffalo in May 1965, he returned to hit .340 in 1969 and catch the final out of that World Series. Parsons went 1-10 with a 4.67 ERA in 35 appearances and 11 starts for a club that finished 50-112, his one win a July 5 shutout of the Cubs at Shea. A 6-foot-7 right-hander from Lakeville, Connecticut, who spent seven seasons in Pittsburgh's farm system, went 2-13 over three big league years with the Pirates and Mets, and was then traded to Houston for Jerry Grote.
Sources: Wikipedia (Cleon Jones) · Wikipedia (Tom Parsons) · SABR BioProject · Baseball Almanac (Tom Parsons) · Stats Crew
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 353 | 3 | 38 | 144 | 80 | 36 | 31 | 18 | 3 |
| SGC | 27 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #308 card?
It is card #308 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Cleon Jones and Tom Parsons. 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 #308 a rookie card?
Yes - #308 is the rookie card of Cleon Jones. Tom Parsons had already appeared on an earlier Topps card, so it is not his rookie card.
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.