1972 Topps #5 John Bateman
About John Bateman
Bateman hit .242 with 10 home runs as Montreal's catcher in 1971, and tied a major-league mark on August 29 by striking out twice in one inning. By September the Expos were giving prospect Terry Humphrey time behind the plate, and Bateman and manager Gene Mauch nearly came to blows in a St. Louis hotel lobby. Card #5 is a first-series Expos issue.
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. Weight, injuries and a free swing kept the catching 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 for Tim McCarver 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 · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 217 | 9 | 41 | 119 | 31 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-10-19. 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
Team card: #582 Montreal Expos
More Montreal Expos cards:
- #58 Ernie McAnally
- #82 Ron Woods
- #95 1971 N.L. Strikeout Leaders
- #110 Ron Hunt
- #134 Carl Morton
- #159 John Boccabella
- #211 Gary Sutherland
- #234 Ron Taylor
- #254 Boots Day
- #276 Gene Mauch
- #307 Steve Renko
- #308 Steve Renko In Action
- #331 Stan Swanson
- #371 Denny Lemaster
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #5 card?
It is card #5 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Bateman of the Montreal Expos.
How many cards are in the 1972 Topps Baseball set?
787 cards, tracked as 794 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 787 with none skipped, in six print series (#1-132, #133-263, #264-394, #395-525, #526-656 and #657-787, the high numbers); 7 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - four Chicago Cubs cards with yellow or green under the "C" and "S" of the team name, the #251 and #478 checklists with smaller or larger print on the front, and the #604 checklist with its copyright line aligned right or left.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, BaseballCardPedia, 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 2026-10-25.