PSA 4.5 1965 Topps #2 NL Batting Leaders Roberto Clemente Hank Aaron Rico Carty

 

Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball player who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, primarily as a right fielder. After his early and sudden death, the National Baseball Hall of Fame changed its rules so that a player who has been dead for at least six months will be eligible for entry. In 1973 Clemente was posthumously inducted, becoming the first Caribbean and the first Latin-American player to be honored in the Hall of Fame.

Clemente was an All-Star for 13 seasons, selected to 15 All-Star Games. He was the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1966, the NL batting leader in 1961, 1964, 1965, and 1967, and a Gold Glove Award winner for 12 consecutive seasons from 1961 through 1972. His batting average was over .300 for 13 seasons and he had 3,000 hits during his major league career. He also was a two-time World Series champion. Clemente was the first player from the Caribbean and Latin America to win a World Series as a starting position player (1960), to receive an NL MVP Award (1966), and to receive a World Series MVP Award (1971).

Clemente was involved in charity work in Latin American and Caribbean countries during the off-seasons. He often delivered baseball equipment and food to those in need. In 1972, he died in a plane crash at the age of 38 while en route to deliver aid to victims of the Nicaragua earthquake. The following season, the Pirates retired his uniform number 21, and MLB renamed its annual Commissioner's Award in his honor. Now known as the Roberto Clemente Award, it is given to the player who "best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual's contribution to his team."

Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. Considered one of the greatest baseball players in history, he spent 21 seasons with the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves in the National League (NL) and two seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers in the American League (AL). At the time of his retirement, Aaron held most of the game's key career power-hitting records. He broke the long-standing MLB record for career home runs held by Babe Ruth and remained the career leader for 33 years, until Barry Bonds surpassed his famous total of 755 in 2007. He hit 24 or more home runs every year from 1955 through 1973 and is one of only two players to hit 30 or more home runs in a season at least fifteen times.

Aaron holds the MLB records for the most career runs batted in (RBIs) (2,297), extra base hits (1,477), and total bases (6,856). Aaron is also third all-time for career hits (3,771) and fifth in runs scored (2,174). He is one of only four players to have at least 17 seasons with 150 or more hits. Aaron's ability as a hitter can be illustrated by his still having over 3,000 hits even without counting any of his home runs. He was an NL All-Star for 20 seasons and an AL All-Star for one season, and he holds the record for the most All-Star selections (25), while sharing the record for most All-Star Games played (24) with Willie Mays and Stan Musial. He was a three-time Gold Glove winner, and in 1957, he won the NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award when the Milwaukee Braves won the World Series.

Aaron was born and raised in and around Mobile, Alabama, one of eight children. He appeared briefly in the Negro American League and in minor league baseball before starting his major league career. By his final MLB season, Aaron was the last former Negro league baseball player on a major league roster. During his time in Major League Baseball, and especially during his run for the home run record, Aaron and his family endured extensive racist threats. His experiences fueled his activism during the civil rights movement.

Aaron was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1982 and Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988. In 1999, MLB introduced the Hank Aaron Award to recognize the top offensive players in each league. That same year, he was one of 30 baseball players elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002. After his retirement, Aaron held front office roles with the Atlanta Braves, including the senior vice president. He resided near Atlanta until his death in 2021.

Ricardo Adolfo Jacobo Carty (September 1, 1939 – November 23, 2024), nicknamed "Beeg Boy", was a Dominican professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1963 to 1979, most prominently as a member of the Atlanta Braves. He had the first hit for the team in their first game in Atlanta on April 12, 1965. In 1969, he helped the franchise win its first National League Western Division title. Carty had a career batting average of .299, most notably hitting .366 to become the 1970 National League (NL) batting champion (the first Brave to do so in eleven years) while also garnering him a start at the 1970 All-Star Game as a write-in candidate. In a fifteen-year major league career, Carty played in 1,651 games, accumulating 1,677 hits in 5,606 at bats for a .299 career batting average along with 204 home runs, 890 runs batted in, .369 on-base percentage and .464 slugging percentage. He ended his career with a .974 fielding percentage. During his career, he played as a catcher, first baseman, third baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter.

Carty also played for the Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, and Texas Rangers. He was one of the earliest Dominicans to play in the major leagues; however, his career was marked by battles with injuries, illnesses (tuberculosis) and teammates. In 1996, Carty was inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame as part of their inaugural class, and in 2023 he was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame.