1968 Topps #258 Cubs Rookie Stars - Jose Arcia / Bill Schlesinger
On this card: Jose Arcia, Bill Schlesinger
About this card
Thirty Rookie Stars cards carry two players each on a horizontal front. The class is headlined by the two Hall of Fame rookies, #177 Nolan Ryan (with Jerry Koosman) and #247 Johnny Bench (with Ron Tompkins), with #384 Hal McRae (with Bill Henry) the other rookie card collectors chase.
The story on this card
In his 1968 rookie season with the Chicago Cubs, Arcia appeared in 59 games, batting .190 with one home run and 8 RBI while seeing time in the outfield and at second base. His 1968 Topps card, number 258, is a recognized rookie card issued in the set's third print series as a multi-player Rookie Stars subset, shared with fellow Cubs prospect Bill Schlesinger. A Cuban-born infielder-outfielder who reached the majors with the Chicago Cubs in 1968, Jose Arcia spent his three big-league seasons with the Cubs and San Diego Padres, finishing with a .215 career average across 293 games.
The 1968 Topps Rookie Stars card #258 pairs Schlesinger with Jose Arcia and lists both with the Chicago Cubs. It comes from the third print series, and it is a recognised rookie card of the set, although Schlesinger's own first Topps card had appeared three years earlier. Boston had traded him with cash to Chicago for pitcher Ray Culp at the November 1967 winter meetings, a deal the Red Sox won in a walk: Culp averaged 16 wins over the next four seasons. Schlesinger hit .227 for Double-A San Antonio and .150 in a Triple-A look with Tacoma before Boston reacquired him in June 1968 and returned him to Pittsfield, where he finished at .274. Cut by his high school and college teams, "Rudy" Schlesinger slugged his way out of a beer league to one 1965 pinch-hit at-bat for the Red Sox, his entire major league career, before a pitch to the face took 40 percent of his vision.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · SABR
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 243 | 6 | 54 | 106 | 41 | 21 | 2 | 11 | 2 |
| SGC | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 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. Slabs of the yellow team-letter #49 and #66 are 1968 Milton Bradley game cards and are not counted here.
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Related cards
More Chicago Cubs cards:
- #5 National League 1967 Home Run Leaders
- #9 National League 1967 Pitching Leaders
- #11 National League 1967 Strikeout Leaders
- #13 Chuck Hartenstein
- #37 Billy Williams
- #60 Ken Holtzman
- #83 John Stephenson
- #101 Glenn Beckert
- #119 Ted Savage
- #136 Randy Hundley
- #159 Don Kessinger
- #179 Bill Stoneman
- #184 Lou Johnson
- #202 Adolfo Phillips
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #258 card?
It is card #258 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jose Arcia and Bill Schlesinger. Thirty Rookie Stars cards carry two players each on a horizontal front. The class is headlined by the two Hall of Fame rookies, #177 Nolan Ryan (with Jerry Koosman) and #247 Johnny Bench (with Ron Tompkins), with #384 Hal McRae (with Bill Henry) the other rookie card collectors chase.
Is 1968 Topps #258 a rookie card?
Yes - #258 is the rookie card of Jose Arcia. Bill Schlesinger had already appeared on an earlier Topps card, so it is not his rookie card.
How many cards are in the 1968 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 606 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 598 without a gap and no printed number carries two different cards; eight cards - six of the seven checklists, #10 AL Pitching Leaders and #400 Mike McCormick - carry a catalogued print variation that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball Almanac, Beckett, 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 2026-10-12.