1963 Topps #348 Vic Wertz
About Vic Wertz
Detroit meant to carry Wertz in 1963 as a pinch hitter and a backup to first baseman Norm Cash, but he started the year 0 for 5 and was released in early May. Minnesota signed him in mid-June, and he finished 6 for 44 with the Twins, three home runs and seven RBIs, two of the homers struck off the bench. He announced his retirement at the end of July and played his last game on September 19. His card that year, #348 in the fourth series, still shows him in a Detroit uniform.
Vic Wertz was a left-handed-hitting outfielder turned first baseman who played seventeen major league seasons from 1947 to 1963, all of them in the American League, with the Detroit Tigers, the St. Louis Browns and Baltimore Orioles, the Cleveland Indians, the Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins. Born in York, Pennsylvania and signed by Detroit in 1942 out of Reading High School, he broke out as the Tigers' right fielder in 1949 with 20 home runs and a career-high 133 RBIs, and he made four All-Star teams. Traded from Baltimore to Cleveland in June 1954, he was handed first base and stayed there the rest of his career. He went 8 for 16 in that fall's World Series, yet is remembered for the one he missed: a drive of more than 400 feet in Game One that Willie Mays ran down with his back to the plate. Polio put him in the hospital in August 1955 and ended his season, but he returned in 1956 for a career-high 32 home runs and the Comeback Player of the Year award. He finished with a .277 average, 266 home runs and 1,178 RBIs, built the Vic Wertz Distributing Company in Mount Clemens, Michigan, and was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 210 | 1 | 14 | 100 | 61 | 22 | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 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.
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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 #348 card?
It is card #348 of the 576-card 1963 Topps Baseball set, picturing Vic Wertz 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.