1969 Topps #539 Ted Shows How - Mike Epstein / Ted Williams
On this card: Mike Epstein, Ted Williams
About this card
This is one of the four combo cards in the 1969 Topps set - #532 Bird Hill Aces, #539 Ted Shows How, #556 A's Stars and #572 Giants Heroes - each grouping men from one club under a headline rather than giving one man his own card.
The story on this card
This print series 6 combination card teams Mike Epstein with his own manager, Ted Williams, both wearing the Washington Senators cap. Williams took over as Senators skipper for 1969 and made Epstein a personal project that spring, shortening his swing and preaching a simple message: swing only at strikes. The lesson took. Epstein turned in a career year, hitting a career-best .278 with career highs of 30 home runs and 85 RBIs over 403 at-bats. The pairing on the card reflects that real relationship on the Senators bench rather than a random Topps grouping, and the two stayed friends long after both had left the dugout.
A Bronx-born slugging first baseman nicknamed "Super Jew," Epstein blossomed under manager Ted Williams in Washington before helping Oakland win the 1972 World Series championship. Ted Williams was the Boston Red Sox's Hall of Fame left fielder, a .406 hitter in 1941, a two-time Triple Crown winner and two-time AL MVP whose .482 career on-base percentage is the highest ever; he later managed the Senators and Rangers.
Sources: Wikipedia (Mike Epstein) · Wikipedia (Ted Williams) · SABR BioProject
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 1,001 | 5 | 72 | 420 | 205 | 124 | 86 | 87 | 2 |
| SGC | 146 | 0 | 2 | 32 | 39 | 23 | 21 | 29 | 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 Washington Senators cards:
- #3 American League 1968 RBI Leaders
- #5 American League 1968 Home Run Leaders
- #27 Bernie Allen
- #48 Brant Alyea
- #84 Bob Humphreys
- #106 Jim Hannan
- #132 Dave Baldwin
- #153 Ed Brinkman
- #170 Frank Howard
- #199 Jim French
- #226 Bruce Howard
- #246 Joe Coleman
- #272 Ed Stroud
- #294 Jim Lemon
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #539 card?
It is card #539 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mike Epstein and Ted Williams. This is one of the four combo cards in the 1969 Topps set - #532 Bird Hill Aces, #539 Ted Shows How, #556 A's Stars and #572 Giants Heroes - each grouping men from one club under a headline rather than giving one man his own card.
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.