Jim Bouton PSA Basic Set

I mentioned a few posts ago that I started collecting the Jim Bouton PSA Basic Set after reading his book Ball Four, a classic baseball memoir. It didn't take me too long to gather the full 7-card run, Topps releases from 1962-1968.

 

The 1962 rookie card was the most expensive card in the bunch, even though I picked up a miscut example. Other than the centering the card looks pretty good, and the discount for the condition made the card attainable for my collection.

The 1963 and 1964 Topps Jim Bouton cards came in relatively low condition, because that's where they were cheap. I don't feel like I missed out on anything by getting them in a PSA 4 grade. I got the 1965 card in a 6.5 grade, and it's a pretty nice-looking card. Never thought I'd be chasing a full run of a Yankee, but that's how the collecting winds blow sometimes.

Here are the final three cards in the set, 1966-1968 Topps. The best value for the 1966 card came in a 5 grade, but I was able to get a 7 for 1967 and an 8 for 1968. All of that adds up to the worst complete Jim Bouton Basic Set in the PSA Set Registry. I don't really care about that, as I achieved my goal, a complete run of Jim Bouton's career Topps issues. This was a fun set to put together.

Reading Leads to a New Player Collection

I recently read Jim Bouton's baseball book, Ball Four, and of course reading about his baseball career got me thinking about baseball cards. The book itself was pretty interesting. I wonder how members of the baseball establishment felt about his revelations, and I also wonder how his wife felt about some of the things he wrote about. It's probably a good thing that he wrote it as his career was winding down, as I imagine him writing about the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on in the clubhouse and hotels was frowned on a little bit.

Naturally I wondered whether Bouton had any baseball cards, and if so, how many are there? It turns out his basic player set in PSA numbers only 7 cards, with only his rookie card pulling relatively large money. I decided to see about grabbing all 7 over time in PSA-graded form. As can be seen by this PSA 4 example of his first solo card, I am not chasing the best set possible, just examples of the cards in PSA holders.

Here is the back of the 1963 Topps card, for completeness' sake. I generally don't collect cards of Yankees, but I'll make an exception in this case.

 

I also got his 1968 card, the last one in the run, in PSA 8 form. When buying graded cards I do a little bit of value analysis to compare what's available versus the asking price for each grade. Sometimes there are bargains to be had, especially if one is willing to venture outside of the premium 9 and 10 grades. I am just happy to get the cards, so I am willing to shop around for the best value I can find among the lower grades. Sometimes it's an 8 and sometimes it's a 4, but I am having fun chasing the set.