No stamp shall be considered for issuance if one treating the same subject has been issued in the past 50 years…

I thought with the exception of Presidents, you also had to be dead for 10 years or 25 years or something. OK, it's been 12 years since DiMaggio's death so I'm going with 10.

Looking at guys who died between 1980 and 2000 ... Mantle & Greenberg had stamps in 2006. Williams not eligible yet (2003 death) but maybe part of the series ... a site promoting a stamp for Williams for some reason claims the 10 year waiting period makes him eligible in 2012?? Anyway, let's assume he's #2.

Mize would be an interesting choice and the next best likely hitter is Maris but assume they wouldn't want 2 Yanks. But on the pitching side ... sheesh. Early Wynn? Catfish? Hubbell?

So I'm guessing a couple of older timers ... has Dizzy Dean been on a stamp yet? The answer is yes. Also ... On July 6, 2000, The United States Congress designated the U.S. Post Office in Wiggins, Mississippi, as the "Jay Hanna 'Dizzy' Dean Post Office" by Public Law 106-236. On October 22, 2007, a rest area on U.S. Route 49 in Wiggins, Mississippi, five miles south of Dean's home in Bond, Mississippi, was named "Dizzy Dean Rest Area" after Dean

Are they really gonna put Drysdale on a stamp?

So I'm kinda stumped.

The non-inverted Ozzie Smith is highly rare and valuable.

Has to be 2 hitters and 2 pitchers right?

My guesses :
Roberto Clemente
Satchel Paige
Warren Spahn

Apparently there is a rule that a person cannot be on a stamp until he has been deceased a certain amount of time—I’ve seen both five or 10 years

Zazzle has stripped this particular law of its solemnity. You can put anybody you want on a stamp nowadays. My personal baseball pane will consist of Ron Washington, Oddibe McDowell, Pete Incaviglia, and Matt Stairs. Of course, once I use up the 200 Bob Dernier stamps I'd printed up.

Clemente's already been on one stamp. I'm not certain he's worthy of two.

Ruth and Jack Robby? (Unless, and I would bet this is the case, Jack has already been on a stamp. Then I guess Aaron)

Just RTFA, Ruth has already been on a stamp (As has Robby) so he's out, which means Aaron's gotta be one of the picks...unless they choose, snickers, current HR champ and greatest living hitter BB

Paige has been on a stamp before also.

I thought with the exception of Presidents, you also had to be dead for 10 years or 25 years or something. OK, it's been 12 years since DiMaggio's death so I'm going with 10.

They relaxed the "10 years gone" rule a few years ago and reduced it to a five year minimum wait after a person's death. Bob Hope was put on a stamp in 2009, six years after his death. He's the first one that I was aware of under the new requirements.

Apparently, the 10 year rule can be waived.

Williams not eligible yet (2003 death) but maybe part of the series ... a site promoting a stamp for Williams for some reason claims the 10 year waiting period makes him eligible in 2012?? Anyway, let's assume he's #2.

Walt, Williams died in 2002, not 2003.

which means Aaron's gotta be one of the picks

Aaron is still alive.

As a product of Stamps, Arkansas, I find this thread very anticlimactic after such a promising title ...

Walt, Williams died in 2002, not 2003.

Still, the fact that he lived so long without a neck is extremely impressive.

Williams died in 2002, not 2003.

For now.

What about Lajoie?

Or Banks, if they had to be from the All-Star era? Edit: nevermind, Banks is still alive.

Banks is alive

Aaron is still alive.

Well, he won't be for long if the government decides it's of national importance to put him on a stamp.

Circle me Buck.

TFA:

here's a list of baseball players who have appeared on stamps along with the year the stamps were issued.

Catchers
Roy Campanella (2006)
Josh Gibson (2000)

First base
Jimmie Foxx (2000)
Lou Gehrig (1989)
Hank Greenberg (2006)
George Sisler (2000)

Second base
Eddie Collins (2000)
Rogers Hornsby (2000)
Jackie Robinson (1982)

Shortstop
Honus Wagner (2000)

Third base
Pie Traynor (2000)

Outfielders
Roberto Clemente (1984)
Ty Cobb (2000)
Mickey Cochrane (2000)
Mickey Mantle (2000)
Roger Maris (1999)
Mel Ott (2006)
Babe Ruth (1983)
Tris Speaker (2000)

Pitchers
Dizzy Dean (2000)
Lefty Grove (2000)
Walter Johnson (2000)
Christy Mathewson (2000)
Satchel Paige (2000)
Cy Young (2000)

And, updated odds!

Larry Doby (Odds: Even)... Pete Alexander (Odds 15 to 1)... Don Drysdale (Odds 20 to 1)

Sure seems like a lot of Negro Leaguers they could take, for one thing.

Major League Baseball All-Star Stamps? Seems unlikely.

Sure seems like a lot of Negro Leaguers they could take, for one thing.

Except the promotional literature says all of the players chosen were "perennial All-Stars".

Aaron is still alive.

Absolute total headslap doop!

Given the Postal Service's precarious financial condition, isn't the question "Who'd sell the most stamps"? Looks like most of the obvious choices were already honored or are inconsiderately clinging to life.

My dad is a public relations manager for the USPS; I'll ask him if he knows.

Except the promotional literature says all of the players chosen were "perennial All-Stars".

The East-West All-Star game was regarded as the jewel of the Negro Leagues season.

Apparently there is a rule that a person cannot be on a stamp until he has been deceased a certain amount of time

Is it four months? If so, I'm going with Adam Dunn.

a friend of mine asked me to look at the dimaggio stamp, apparently some people thought he was depicted as batting from the wrong side of the plate. i have to say its a bad rendition, and i can see how some people could be confused. he's finishing his swing and looking at the flight of the ball but its a tight shot of him and the hands are not done well.

Buck O'Neil's got to be one of the four, doesn't he? He died in October 2006, is perhaps the most universally beloved baseball figure of recent years, and this year is the 100th anniversary of his birth.

And here I thought that Posnanski had actually written an article about the Calgary Stampeders.

If they're keeping strictly to the All Star theme, I'd guess the other two players are Hubbell (for the consecutive strikeouts) and Larry Doby (first black AL player in the All Star game, first black player to hit a home run in the All Star game).

The thing about the Postal Service rules, though, is that they're perfectly happy to waive them when they feel like it. Jackie Robinson and Babe Ruth have been on multiple stamps in the last 50 years -- I think Jackie's been on three. The dead-x-number-of-years rule has also been waived for, I think it was Richard Nixon.

EDIT: Nixon stamp issued in '95

EDIT: Nixon stamp issued in '95

Too many people spat on the wrong side of that one...

The USPS issues a commemorative stamp on the birthday of any President the year after he dies.

Pie Traynor (2000)

Goddamnmotherfuckingsonofabitchasshole!* Traynor gets a stamp and Santo can't even get into the Hall of Fame.

*In case the nanny let that through, it is not a reference to Mr. Traynor but rather my "I'm so annoyed I need 4 swear words in one" word.