1958 Topps #457 Milt Pappas
About Milt Pappas
Milt Pappas appears on 1958 Topps #457, a print series 6 rookie card showing him with the Baltimore Orioles. It follows a brief 1957 debut: after signing out of Detroit's Cooley High School for $4,000, he made four relief appearances, allowing one run in nine innings for a 0-0 record and 1.00 ERA. He was still a teenager when that season closed.
Milton Steven Pappas, born May 11, 1939, in Detroit to Greek immigrant parents, pitched 17 seasons in the majors from 1957 through 1973 as a control artist for the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs. Signed out of Detroit's Cooley High School for a $4,000 bonus, he got only a two-week taste of the minors before debuting at 18 in August 1957. He anchored Baltimore's young Kiddie Korps staff with Chuck Estrada, Steve Barber, Jack Fisher and Jerry Walker, won in double figures eleven straight seasons, and was an All-Star in 1962, when he pitched in both of that summer's two All-Star Games, and again in 1965, when he started the game. In December 1965 Baltimore sent him, Jack Baldschun and Dick Simpson to Cincinnati for Frank Robinson, remembered as one of the most lopsided trades ever made. He later pitched for the Braves and Cubs, no-hitting San Diego on September 2, 1972, and retired with 209 wins, 164 losses and a 3.40 ERA in 3,186 innings without ever winning 20 in a season. He is not in the National Baseball Hall of Fame; Baltimore elected him to the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1985. He died April 19, 2016, at 76.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 570 | 0 | 3 | 69 | 212 | 175 | 62 | 49 | 0 |
| SGC | 65 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 18 | 9 | 18 | 7 | 0 |
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 Milt Pappas card?
It is card #457 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 Milt Pappas, Baltimore Orioles.
Is the 1958 Topps Milt Pappas #457 a rookie card?
Yes - #457 is a rookie card, one of 103 in the 1958 Topps set.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Milt Pappas #457 are there?
PSA has graded 570 copies and SGC 65 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 2026-09-30.