1963 Topps #406 Howie Koplitz
About Howie Koplitz
Number 406 is a fifth-series card and still shows Koplitz with Detroit; it is his second Topps issue. In the season behind it, wearing 45 for Bob Scheffing's Tigers, he got into ten games, six of them starts, and went 3-0 with a 5.26 ERA over 37 2/3 innings, plus one outing for Triple-A Denver. By the time the fifth series reached packs the Tiger cap on the card was already out of date: he spent all of 1963 at Triple-A Syracuse, 7-8 with a 3.90 ERA, and Detroit left him unprotected that winter.
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
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 165 | 0 | 4 | 86 | 56 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 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.
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Related cards
Team card: #552 Detroit Tigers
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #4 1962 American League Home Run Leaders
- #6 1962 American League E.R.A. Leaders
- #8 1962 American League Pitching Leaders
- #10 1962 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #25 Al Kaline
- #44 Terry Fox
- #64 Dick McAuliffe
- #84 Ron Kline
- #134 Bob Scheffing
- #140 Frank Lary
- #164 Bubba Morton
- #169 1963 Rookie Stars
- #177 Bubba Phillips
- #218 Tiger Twirlers
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1963 Topps #406 card?
It is card #406 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Howie Koplitz of the Detroit Tigers.
How many cards are in the 1963 Topps Baseball set?
576 cards, tracked as 583 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 576 with no gaps and no number used twice, and seven cards carry a catalogued print variation - three checklists, the two Rookie Stars cards also printed with a "1962" heading, and the #341 Jack Baldschun and #454 Art Fowler print states - that the master set counts separately.
Sources: 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.