#138 John Bateman - Montreal Expos

John Alvin Bateman
Montreal Expos
Catcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  210
Born:  July 21, 1940, Fort Sill, OK
Signed:  Signed by the Houston Colt .45s as an amateur free agent before 1962 season
Major League Teams:  Houston Colt .45s 1963-1964; Houston Astros 1965-1968; Montreal Expos 1969-1972; Philadelphia Phillies 1972

Died:  December 3, 1996, Sand Springs, OK (age 56)

John Bateman spent 10 seasons in the big leagues as a catcher for the expansion Colt .45s/Astros, the expansion Expos and the awful 1972 Phillies.  He caught the first no-hitters in both Houston and Montreal history - both against the Phillies.  He was behind the plate for Colts' pitcher Don Nottebart's (#593) no-hitter on May 17, 1963 and again for the Expos' Bill Stoneman's (#67) no-hitter on April 17, 1969.  Known for his exceptional pitch calling, Bateman was a career .230 hitter with 81 home runs and 375 RBIs.

Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.

Building the Set / Card #172
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set.  That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon.  I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.

This is the 95th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York.  My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside.  After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far.  With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298.  The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing less than a dollar.

The Card / Expos Team Set / Accuracy Index -8

Bateman is wearing an Astros jersey, and the photo likely comes from the same session as the photos used for his 1967 and 1968 Topps cards.  Interestingly enough, the back of the card refers to the Astros as the "Houston Organization."  Here's a great article from SABR's Baseball Cards Research Committee with an explanation as to why Topps stayed away from using the name "Astros" on its baseball cards in the late 1960s.  

The cartoon on the back highlights Bateman's league leading 14 double plays as a catcher in 1966.  He'd lead the league twice more in that category with 19 in 1970 and 12 in 1971.

Accuracy Index:  Bateman is hatless (-3) and wearing an Astros jersey (-5).

1969 Season
On October 14, 1968, Bateman was drafted by the Expos from the Astros as the 6th pick in the expansion draft.  Slated to be the team's everyday catcher, Bateman was in the Expos' inaugural opening day line-up and started most of April and May behind the plate until a slump and injuries took their toll.  As mentioned above, he caught the first no-hitter in franchise history on April 17th.  He was batting .216 in late May when he fouled a ball off a finger, resulting in his missing all of June.  Ron Brand (#549) took over regular catching duties, and Bateman spent the rest of the season trying to regain regular playing time.  In 74 games, he batted .209 with eight home runs and 19 RBIs.

Phillies Career

The Phillies acquired Bateman from the Expos on June 14, 1972 for Tim McCarver (#475).  Serving as the regular catcher for a Phillies team that would finish with a 59-97 record, Bateman established himself as a favorite of Phillies ace Steve Carlton (#255).  Carlton would go on to win 27 games and his first N.L. Cy Young Award in 1972, and with Bateman catching him he was 20-4 with a 1.60 ERA.  In 82 games with the Phillies, Bateman hit .222 with 3 home runs and 17 RBIs.  His tenure with the club lasted just the one season as rookie Bob Boone was deemed ready to take on the everyday catcher's job.  Despite protests from Carlton, Bateman was released on January 15, 1973, ending his big league career.

His lone Phillies baseball card can be found in the 1972 team-issued photo card set.

1963 Topps #386

1964 Topps #142

1967 Topps #231

1970 Topps #417

1972 Topps #5

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1963 Topps #386
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10):  1963-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  1972 Topps #5
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  59 in the Beckett online database as of 11/13/23.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database
1965 Topps Blog / The Phillies Room

#137 Wally Bunker - Kansas City Royals / #139 Andy Kosco - Los Angeles Dodgers