1968 Topps #300 Rusty Staub
About Rusty Staub
A fourth-series card from a season that opened with an eight-day holdout and a move back to first base, the Astros shifting him off the outfield after he hurt his groin repeatedly the year before. On June 9 he and Bob Aspromonte refused to play the Pirates on the day of national mourning declared after Robert Kennedy's assassination; each was docked a day's pay, roughly $300 in Staub's case, and both were thanked by telegram from Kennedy's press secretary. He was hitting .317 at the All-Star break and was Houston's lone selection, popping out as a pinch-hitter in a 1-0 National League win staged in the Astrodome. The Year of the Pitcher pulled him back to .291, still ninth in the league.
Daniel Joseph Staub was born in New Orleans on April 1, 1944; a hospital nurse nicknamed him Rusty for the red fuzz on his head, and it stuck for life. A star at Jesuit High School, he signed with the expansion Houston Colt .45s in 1961 for a bonus reported at $100,000 and reached the majors at 19. A left-handed hitter with a patient eye, he grew into a six-time All-Star and one of the game's steadiest run producers, closing 23 seasons with 2,716 hits, 499 doubles, 292 home runs and 1,466 RBIs. Traded to Montreal for the Expos' 1969 debut, he became the club's first star, took French lessons for its fans, and in 1993 was the first Expo to have his number retired. He later played for the Mets, Tigers and Rangers, retiring as the only man with 500 hits for four different franchises. Off the field he ran two Manhattan restaurants and founded funds for the families of New York police and firefighters and for city food pantries. Inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012, he died in 2018 at 73.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 324 | 6 | 42 | 127 | 75 | 39 | 17 | 18 | 0 |
| SGC | 21 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 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 Houston Astros cards:
- #5 National League 1967 Home Run Leaders
- #21 Ron Davis
- #41 Julio Gotay
- #57 Dan Schneider
- #77 Don Wilson
- #95 Bob Aspromonte
- #128 Houston 1968 Rookie Stars
- #144 Joe Morgan
- #161 Norm Miller
- #182 Dave Giusti
- #207 Carroll Sembera
- #232 Denis Menke
- #260 Jim Wynn
- #274 Mike Cuellar
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #300 card?
It is card #300 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Rusty Staub of the Houston Astros.
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.