1958 Topps #78B Ernie Johnson
Yellow-name (YN) lettering variation - the player name is printed in yellow instead of white. The white version is the common counterpart; yellow variants run roughly 2-2.5x scarcer.
Yellow Name lettering variation: the player name is printed in yellow instead of white. PSA population data puts yellow copies at roughly 2-2.5x scarcer than their white counterparts.
About Ernie Johnson
Johnson's 1958 Topps card is #78, from Series One, with the Milwaukee Braves, and it comes in both the common white lettering and a yellow-name printing with his name in yellow instead of white. He pitched just 15 games that season, going 3-1 with an 8.10 ERA, as Milwaukee headed back to the World Series after his 1957 title.
Ernie Johnson, born in Brattleboro, Vermont, in 1924, was a right-handed reliever who pitched from 1950 to 1959, mostly for the Boston and Milwaukee Braves. A Marine who took part in the Okinawa invasion, he came back to baseball and went 15-4 for the 1951 Milwaukee Brewers before sticking with the Braves in 1952. His best pitch was a palmball that induced ground balls. He was a bullpen mainstay when the club moved to Milwaukee, posting a 2.67 ERA in 1953, and he was on the 1957 world champions, pitching seven innings in three Series games against the Yankees. He finished with a 40-23 record, 19 saves and a 3.77 ERA in 273 games, ending with Baltimore in 1959. He then became a Braves broadcaster from 1962 to 1999, joined the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame in 2014. He died in 2011.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · BaseballCardPedia
Variations & how to tell them apart
Yellow Name (YN) #78
Nineteen Series 1/early-2 cards exist with the player name printed in yellow instead of white, including stars Aaron (#30), Kaline (#70) and McDougald (#20).
- #78 — base card: the lettering is printed in WHITE — the base, more common version. — see the card page
- #78B — Yellow Name: the player name is printed in YELLOW — the scarcer version, roughly 2-2.5x tougher than white per PSA populations. (this page)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 211 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 49 | 57 | 42 | 52 | 0 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-07-09. Counts cover this variation only; the base version is tracked separately. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8). PSA counts are straight-graded (the +/Q qualifier rows are excluded).
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Related cards
More Ernie Johnson in this set: #78
More Milwaukee Braves cards:
- #10 Lou Burdette
- #17 Felix Mantilla
- #30 Hank Aaron
- #30B Hank Aaron (Yellow Name)
- #51 Del Rice
- #78 Ernie Johnson
- #83 Bob Hazle
- #110 Johnny Logan
- #117 Frank Torre
- #140 Wes Covington
- #147 Don McMahon
- #164 Bob Taylor
- #176 Bob Buhl
- #190 Red Schoendienst
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1958 Topps Ernie Johnson card?
It is card #78 of 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. It pictures Ernie Johnson, Milwaukee Braves, and this is the Yellow Name lettering variation.
What is the 1958 Topps Ernie Johnson yellow variation?
On this version of #78 the player name is printed in yellow instead of white - one of the set's 33 recognized lettering variations. Yellow copies run roughly 2-2.5x scarcer than the white version per PSA population data.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Ernie Johnson #78 are there?
PSA has graded 211 copies and SGC 16 as of the 2026-07-09 snapshot (this variation only). 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 2026-09-30.