1968 Topps #549 Orioles Rookie Stars - Curt Motton / Roger Nelson
On this card: Curt Motton, Roger Nelson
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
1968 was Motton's first full season, splitting left field with Curt Blefary after an early-season opening created by Frank Robinson's bout with the mumps. He started 18 games in a row during a 13-2 stretch that briefly lifted Baltimore into first place, then settled into a part-time role, batting .198 with 8 home runs in 217 at-bats. His signature moment came off the bench: home runs in back-to-back pinch-hit at-bats on May 15 and 17, tying a major-league record. This 1968 Topps high number card is card #549, part of the Rookie Stars subset shared with fellow Oriole Roger Nelson. A Baltimore Orioles outfielder of the late 1960s and early 1970s, prized off the bench as one of the American League's sharpest pinch-hitters during the club's championship run.
Nelson had just been traded to the Baltimore Orioles that November, part of a deal that sent Luis Aparicio to the Chicago White Sox, and he spent the 1968 season pitching for Baltimore before the Royals selected him in that winter's expansion draft. His card falls in the seventh print series, a high number, and stands as his rookie card; he shares it with fellow Oriole Curt Motton in the Rookie Stars subset, each man pictured with the club he played for that year. A right-hander taken first overall by the expansion Kansas City Royals in 1968, Roger Nelson pitched nine big-league seasons and turned in a career-best 2.08 ERA for Kansas City in 1972.
Sources: Wikipedia (Curt Motton) · Wikipedia (Roger Nelson) · SABR BioProject
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 346 | 9 | 70 | 194 | 57 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| SGC | 22 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 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. 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
Team card: #334 Baltimore Orioles
More Baltimore Orioles cards:
- #2 American League 1967 Batting Leaders
- #4 American League 1967 RBI Leaders
- #20 Brooks Robinson
- #42 Larry Haney
- #56 Orioles 1968 Rookie Stars
- #82 Sam Bowens
- #97 Tom Phoebus
- #118 Mark Belanger
- #135 Paul Blair
- #163 Gene Brabender
- #186 Eddie Watt
- #194 Don Buford
- #204 Andy Etchebarren
- #222 Jim Hardin
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #549 card?
It is card #549 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Curt Motton and Roger Nelson. 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 #549 a rookie card?
Yes - #549 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Curt Motton and Roger Nelson.
Is 1968 Topps #549 a scarce card?
It is a high number card from the seventh print series, #534-598, by the checklist-card division. The last two series together (#458-598) carry only a modest premium; no short-print list exists.
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.