#533 Mets Rookie Stars - Napoleon / Swoboda / Bethke / McGraw

Daniel Napoleon
New York Mets
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  5'11"  Weight:  190
Born:  January 11, 1942, Claysburg, PA
Signed:  Signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams:  New York Mets 1965-1966
Died:  April 26, 2003, Trenton, NJ (age 61)

James Charles Bethke
New York Mets
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  185
Born:  November 5, 1946, Falls City, NE
Signed:  Signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams:  New York Mets 1965

Ronald Alan Swoboda
New York Mets
Outfield

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'2"  Weight:  195
Born:  June 30, 1944, Baltimore, MD
Signed:  Signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent, September 5, 1963
Major League Teams:  New York Mets 1965-1970; Montreal Expos 1971; New York Yankees 1971-1973

Frank Edwin McGraw
New York Mets
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  170
Born:  August 30, 1944, Martinez, CA
Signed:  Signed by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent, June 12, 1956
Major League Teams:  New York Mets 1965-1967, 1969-1974; Philadelphia Phillies 1975-1984
Died:  January 5, 2004, Brentwood, TN (age 59)

2006 Toyota Phillies Wall of Fame Postcards

Danny Napoleon appeared in 80 games for the Mets between 1965 and 1966, batting .162 (21 for 130) with seven RBIs.  Perhaps the biggest hit of his career was a pinch-hit triple on April 24, 1965 to drive in three runs and send the Mets to a 7-6 win over the Giants.  The victory marked the 3,000th win of manager Casey Stengel's (#187) career.

Ron Swoboda is best remembered for his role on the 1969 Miracle Mets, and his amazing diving catch in Game 4 of the 1969 World Series off the bat of Brooks Robinson (#150) that helped thwart an Orioles rally.  Swoboda played in six seasons with the Mets, often struggling defensively, but delivering clutch hits when most needed.  In his nine-year career with the Mets, Expos and Yankees, he hit .242 with 73 home runs and 344 RBIs.

Jim Bethke played just one season in the majors, appearing in 25 games for the Mets in 1965.  In pitched in the minor leagues up through the 1971 season in both the Mets and Royals organizations, but never made it back to the major leagues.

One of the most popular players of his era, Tug McGraw was a key component of the 1969 Miracle Mets and he also recorded the final out in the 1980 World Series to give the Phillies their first championship in franchise history.  McGraw was an All-Star in 1972 and 1975 and he finished in the top ten in saves in seven different seasons.  Over 19 seasons, McGraw appeared in 824 games, compiling a 96-92 record with 180 saves and 3.14 ERA.

McGraw is the rare player who was able to be equally beloved by both Mets and Phillies fans, and writing now this I'm struggling to think of any other player who has been able to straddle that divide.

Building the Set
February 29, 2020 from King of Prussia, PA - Card #78
Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sportscard & Memorabilia Show held on the bottom floor of the Valley Forge Casino on the final day of February.  This was our first baseball card show of 2020 and the fourth show we've attended in Valley Forge since March 2019.  I did a post over at The Phillies Room with a few pictures of Doug taken with some of the show's autograph guests.  We ended up adding 23 cards to our set.

1966 Topps #87

Having bought an initial batch of 17 commons and semi-stars from John's Sports Cards, I told John I'd be back once I tracked down my son.  I found Doug, several new recent Phillies relic and autograph cards in hand, and told him I wanted to add a big card or two to our set and I needed his help.  We got back to John's table, looked over the stars he had from the set for sale and Doug commented, "That Ernie Banks card looks really nice."

I had my eye on the Banks (#510) card too, but also this McGraw rookie card as it's a card I've wanted for as long as I could remember (see below).  The Banks card was marked at $80 and the McGraw card was marked at $30, so I asked John if he'd take $100 for the pair.  John obliged and the cards were ours.  Before leaving, John, apparently a die-hard Mets fan, pointed out that McGraw was one of the few players we could both claim as belonging to our respective teams.

The Card
There are 55 multi-player Rookie Stars cards in the 1965 Topps set, and this is one of five cards to feature four different players.  Because of McGraw, this is one of those cards I've wanted for almost 40 years.  McGraw was one of my first favorite players growing up and the thought of this super old rookie card of his one day entering my collection was beyond my wildest dreams in the early 1980s.

The card has been reprinted a few times, without anyone else on the card other than McGraw in the 2001 Topps Team Topps Legends Autographs set, the 2001 Topps Archives and Archives Reserve sets and 2003 Topps Shoebox Collection set.

Mets Team Set

1965 Season - Napoleon
Napoleon appeared in 68 games for the Mets, making 11 starts in left field and one start each in right field and at third base.  He hit .144 with a .222 OBP.  He played in 30 games for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, hitting .274 with a home run.

1965 Season - Swoboda
Swoboda made the Mets out of spring training and would appear in 135 of their games in 1965, as the team's regular left fielder.  He hit just .228, but his 19 home runs led the team.  His 50 RBIs were third on the team behind Charley Smith (#22) with 62 and Ed Kranepool (#144) with 53.

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Napoleon
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #533
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (2):  1965-1966
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1981 TCMA The 1960s I #472

8 - Napoleon non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/18/20.

Sources - Napoleon:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database
Wikipedia

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Swoboda
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #533
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (9):  1965-1973
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2018 Topps Heritage Miracle of '69 #MO69-RS

111 - Swoboda non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/18/20.

Sources - Swoboda:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database

1966 Topps #35

1967 Topps #264

1969 Topps #585

1971 Topps #665

1973 Topps #314

1965 Season - Bethke
Bethke made his debut with the Mets on April 12, 1965 at 18 years old, making him the youngest player in the big leagues that season.  He went 2-0 in 25 games with a 4.28 ERA over 40 innings pitched.  His Baseball Reference page somehow has him wearing four different uniform numbers during the 1965 season - #20, #28, #36 and #41.

1965 Season - McGraw
McGraw made his debut on April 18th and he'd appear in 37 games with the Mets, going 2-7 with a 3.32 ERA.  He recorded his first career save on May 24th against the Phillies.

Phillies Career
McGraw was traded to the Phillies with Don Hahn on December 3, 1974 for Mac Scarce, John Stearns and Del Unser.  Between 1975 and 1984, he was one of the most reliable relievers for the Phillies, appearing in 463 games and recording 94 saves.  Upon retirement, he was the Phillies all-time saves leader, but he's since been passed by five other relievers.  McGraw struck out Willie Wilson in Game 6 of the 1980 World Series, leaping off the mound in one of the most iconic moments in Philadelphia sports history.  He was inducted into the Phillies Wall of Fame in 1999.

Other Notable Baseball Cards - Bethke
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #533
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (1):  1965
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1981 TCMA The 1960s I #413

3 - Bethke non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/18/20.

Sources - Bethke:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
The Trading Card Database

Other Notable Baseball Cards - McGraw
First Mainstream Card:  1965 Topps #533
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (21):  1965-1985
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2017 Topps National Baseball Card Day Phillies #10

176 - McGraw non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 3/18/20.

Sources - McGraw:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Phillies Room
The Trading Card Database

1966 Topps #124

1969 Topps #601

1975 Topps #67

1981 Topps #404

1985 Topps #157

In some cases, the first and last cards listed above are subjective and chosen by me if multiple cards were released within the same year.  Most recent mainstream card may also be subjective and does not include extremely low serial numbered cards, buybacks or cut autograph cards.

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