Detroit Tigers Team - 1958 Topps #397
1958 Topps #397 Detroit Tigers Team
One of the 16 team cards — 1958 was the first year Topps printed checklists on team-card backs.
About the 1958 Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers finished fourth in the American League in 1957 at 78-76. Their franchise player was right fielder Al Kaline, a standout while still in his early twenties: in 1955, at age 20, he batted .340 to become the youngest batting champion in American League history. Kaline gave Detroit an annual All-Star and a perennial contender for the league lead in hits and average, en route to a Hall of Fame career and 3,000 hits. Card #397 carries a series checklist on its back - part of Topps's new 1958 practice of printing checklists on team cards - and Detroit is among the clubs also found with players listed alphabetically.
Sources: Wikipedia
Variations & how to tell them apart
Team checklist-back variation #397
The four Series-5 team cards each exist with two backs: an alphabetical roster (the base/common version) and a numerical Series-6 checklist. The numerical back is the recognized scarcer/premium version (PSA, 2017: Tigers and Orioles numerical backs each fewer than 10 in PSA 8, none higher). Which printed first is undocumented.
- #397 — base card: the back lists the entire set ALPHABETICALLY (A-Z) — the base, more common version. (this page)
- #397B — Numerical Back: the back carries the team's NUMERICAL Series-6 checklist — the recognized scarcer, premium back.
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 459 | 0 | 9 | 101 | 135 | 91 | 63 | 59 | 1 |
| SGC | 54 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 14 | 1 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-07-09. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8). PSA counts are straight-graded (the +/Q qualifier rows are excluded).
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1958 Topps Detroit Tigers Team card?
It is the Detroit Tigers team card in the 1958 Topps Baseball set - Topps' sixth flagship issue: 494 cards numbered 1-495 (#145 was never issued), with die-cut player photos on solid-color backgrounds and the first team logos on Topps fronts.
Does the 1958 Topps Detroit Tigers team card have back variations?
Yes. #397 exists with an alphabetical checklist back (the base, more common version, listing the set A-Z) and a numerical Series-6 checklist back - the recognized scarcer, premium version.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Detroit Tigers Team #397 are there?
PSA has graded 459 copies and SGC 54 as of the 2026-07-09 snapshot. Population is a scarcity guide, not a price - high-grade 1958s are notoriously tough because of the set's chronic centering and print-quality issues.
How many cards are in the 1958 Topps set?
494 issued cards, numbered 1-495 - #145 (Ed Bouchee) was pulled before release and never issued, leaving a permanent gap. The PSA master census counts 534 items: the 494 base cards plus 33 yellow-letter variations, 4 numerical checklist-back team cards, the 'Herrer' #433 error, and 2 unnumbered ad cards.
Sources: PSA CardFacts, Beckett, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball-Reference, PSA & SGC population reports, and hobby press-sheet research (Topps Archives, 2026). Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-07-10.