1962 Topps #114 Howie Koplitz
About Howie Koplitz
Koplitz leads off in the second series at number 114, and this one is the real rookie card. Topps printed him on the strength of a minor league season rather than big league work: his entire major league resume at press time was four September games for Detroit in 1961, after rosters expanded, in which he went 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA. Collectors chase the number in two states - 114a with no green tint and 114b with the green tint - a press difference on the same card, so a complete run of Koplitz's first Topps issue means finding both.
Howard "Howie" Koplitz (May 4, 1938 - January 2, 2012) was a right-handed pitcher born and raised in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, who signed with the Detroit Tigers as an amateur free agent out of Oshkosh High School in 1956. His sixth year in the Detroit farm system, 1961, was the one that made his name: 23-3 with a 2.11 ERA for the Double-A Birmingham Barons, a no-hitter, Southern Association Most Valuable Player and The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year. A September call-up followed, and the first man he faced in the majors, at Fenway Park, was Carl Yastrzemski - he struck him out. Koplitz worked 54 big league games, 19 as a starter, over parts of five seasons (1961-1962, 1964-1966) for the Tigers and, after Washington claimed him in the Rule 5 draft, the Senators, finishing 9-7 with a 4.21 ERA. A shoulder injury in 1966 spring training ended his major league career at 28. He went home to Oshkosh for 38 years as a Postal Service clerk, coached baseball at Lourdes High School and ran American Legion ball in town.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Print variations
Two states of #114 are tracked individually: 114a - No Green Tint and 114b - Green Tint. The difference is on the front of the card (green tint).
States catalogued by the PSA master set registry; each is tracked here individually.
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Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 114a - No Green Tint | |||||||||
| PSA | 254 | 0 | 12 | 115 | 94 | 22 | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 15 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 114b - Green Tint | |||||||||
| PSA | 61 | 0 | 7 | 23 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-09-24. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8), and PSA's qualified grades are counted separately from the straight-grade rows shown here. Where a grader registers a variation separately its population is listed under that variation. Slabs of the three cards printed #139 are joined by description, never by number alone. PSA registers the green tints as a separate set; a tint's population is listed under that state of the card it belongs to.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1962 Topps #114 card?
It is card #114 of the 600-card 1962 Topps Baseball set, picturing Howie Koplitz of the Detroit Tigers.
Is 1962 Topps #114 a rookie card?
Yes - #114 is the 1962 Topps rookie card of Howie Koplitz.
Does 1962 Topps #114 have variations?
Yes. Two states are catalogued and tracked separately: 114a - No Green Tint (No green tint - the standard first printing) and 114b - Green Tint (Green tint - the color-shifted second printing of series 2). Owning any one of them fills the #114 slot; the master set counts each state.
How many cards are in the 1962 Topps Baseball set?
600 cards, tracked as 708 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps, but three different cards were printed #139 - two Hal Reniff poses, catalogued 139a and 139b, and the Babe Hits 60 Babe Ruth Special, 139c - so 598 numbers make 600 cards; 93 cards carry catalogued print variations, the series-2 green tints among them, that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Baseball Almanac, Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, The Topps Archives, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-03.