BY MARK A. LARSON
When most people think of the 1968 Topps set, they naturally envision the Nolan Ryan rookie card.
After all, without the Ryan rookie, interest in the ’68 set would be minimal. At $1,350, this one card constitutes nearly half of the total $3,200 value of the set.
Just five years ago, in the spring of 1987, a collector could have picked up a Ryan rookie for about $80. A year later, it had gone up to $130. By opening day in 1989, the price-tag was $215 and rising fast. Between the spring of 1989 and 1990, the ’68 Ryan skyrocketed from $215 to $1000. It continued its advance and was $1,275 a year ago. In the past five years, the card increased nearly 17-fold.
Meanwhile, Jerry Koosman seems to have gotten lost in all the hoopla surrounding the Ryan rookie card. Koosman shares the 1968 card with The Express. For the first 10 years or so after it was issued, it was known as the Koosman/Ryan rookie card. Kooz has reportedly joked at card shows that his rookie card is worth $1,350. Technically, he is correct.
The ’68 Ryan/Koosman is perhaps the best – as far as career stats go – two-player rookie card Topps ever produced. We all know Ryan is the All-Time Strikeout King with over 5,500, but Koosman is in the Top 20 with 2,500-plus. Ryan is a 314-game winner, but Koosman won 222. Ryan has a lifetime ERA of 3.15, while Kooz has a very respectable 3.36. Ryan has hurled seven no-hitters, while Koosman is 3-0, with a 2.39 ERA in World Series competition.
How does the presence of Koosman add to the ’68 card? Well, as good as his lifetime stats are, probably not much. An easy way to measure this is to look at the values of each player’s second-year cards in 1969. Ryan’s goes for $410, while Koosman’s is $5 … about one percent of the value of Ryan’s.
In any case, Topps hit the mark when it paired up these two pitchers on the 1968 card.
• • • • • •
See related article on BaseballCardFun.com entitled:
“BASEBALL HOBBY NEWS — 1968: Assassinations, Vietnam and a Ho-hum Set”
Click Link Here
• Originally Published in May 1992 “Baseball Hobby News” •
THIS ARTICLE FROM “BASEBALL HOBBY NEWS” MAGAZINE IS REPRINTED WITH THE PERMISSION OF BOTH THE EDITOR/PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR. IT HAS BEEN RETYPED, BUT NO CONTENT HAS BEEN CHANGED (EXCEPT FOR VERY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS, CORRECTIONS TO TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND CHANGES TO GRAPHICS). COMMENTS OR INFORMATION IN THE ARTICLE MAY BE OUT-OF-DATE.
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