1969 Topps #138 John Bateman
About John Bateman
Card #138 is his first card as an Expo, printed for the franchise's opening season. Bateman batted sixth and caught the first game in club history on April 8, going 1-for-5 in an 11-10 win over the Mets, then took the ceremonial first pitch from Quebec Premier Jean-Jacques Bertrand at the Jarry Park opener on April 14. Three days after that he caught Bill Stoneman's 7-0 no-hitter against Philadelphia, making him the only catcher to work a franchise's first no-hitter twice. A split finger on a May 29 foul tip broke up a hot stretch, Ron Brand took the starting job by midseason, and he finished at .209 with eight homers in 74 games.
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 | 212 | 4 | 42 | 110 | 37 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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.
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Related cards
More Montreal Expos cards:
- #22 Jesus Alou
- #45 Maury Wills
- #67 Bill Stoneman
- #92 Jack Billingham
- #117 Jim Fairey
- #183 Don Shaw
- #230 Rusty Staub
- #236 Manny Mota
- #284 Expos 1969 Rookie Stars
- #306 Jim Grant
- #326 Gary Sutherland
- #351 Carroll Sembera
- #378 Jose Herrera
- #399 Bob Bailey
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #138 card?
It is card #138 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Bateman of the Montreal Expos.
How many cards are in the 1969 Topps Baseball set?
664 cards, tracked as 696 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 664 with none skipped and no printed number shared by two cards; 32 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately, 23 of them the yellow- and white-letter name pairs of #440-511.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, 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 2026-10-12.