Tom Seaver signed this Topps contract extension on May 19, 1967, when he was just 22. Mastro offered it for sale in December 2002, but the lot description’s implication that it covered 1967 and 1968 doesn’t match the underlying paperwork.
The document extends his existing contract, including previous extensions, by two additional years or full baseball seasons. Those seasons belonged at the end of his existing term.
Hunt Auctions sold Seaver’s original January 1966 Topps contract, which ran for five full baseball seasons in which payment became due. Signing in 1966 didn’t automatically make that the first counted season (he pitched for AAA Jacksonville in ’66). Payment depended on qualifying major league service.
Counting from 1967, the year of his Topps rookie card with Bill Denehy (click here to see copies of it for sale on eBay), the original five-season term covered 1967–1971. The May 1967 extension added 1972 and 1973.
Then came the March 8, 1969 extension I previously shared. Its two additional seasons carried the agreement through 1975. That same post includes another extension signed in March 1975, fitting another renewal before the existing term expired.
The sequence makes sense: five seasons through 1971, two more through 1973, and another two through 1975. That’s how I read the timeline, but let me know if I have any of these contract terms mixed up.
So this is rookie-year paperwork, but the two additional seasons were years down the road. It’s a small distinction that changes how we should treat a collectible tied to one of the hobby’s most recognizable rookie cards.
Happy collecting!
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