1967 Topps Tom Seaver ROOKIE #581 PSA 9 MINT

Tom Seaver burst onto the scene in the International League in 1966, pitching well enough to earn an invitation to spring training with the Mets the following year. But on one of those spring days, Seaver remembered getting shelled so badly that he thought his major-league dreams had been dashed. Tigers standouts like Al Kaline, Norm Cash, and Bill Freehan crushed him, and manager Wes Westrum removed Seaver before he finished his scheduled four innings of work. “On the mound, every time I looked up, it seemed there was another line drive buzzing by,” Seaver recalled of that afternoon. “They were spoiling my dream, punching holes all through it. They were round holes about the size of baseballs. … My chances of staying with the New York Mets seemed dim.” Day after day, Seaver expected Westrum or one of his coaches to tell him he would report back to Jacksonville in the minors, but day after day, the conversation never came. And once the coaches finally summoned Seaver, he received news that he would start the second game of the season—for the Mets. Seaver never again pitched in the minor leagues, instead setting the foundation for a 20-year career that left him as a World Series champion and the second pitcher in history with three Cy Young Awards. With 16 wins and 170 strikeouts in 1967, Seaver earned National League Rookie of the Year honors, and Topps cites his fast start to the season as justification for his place on a “Mets Rookie Stars” offering in the high-number series of the 1967 Topps set. Placed alongside fellow rookie Bill Denehy, Seaver’s rookie card helps highlight the largest set Topps had produced up to that point, and this month’s Vintage Premier Auction offers up a PSA 9 example of the card. PSA has awarded only three examples (0.08%) a higher designation, so collectors will likely see bids buzzing past through the extended bidding.