1966 Topps #540 Denny McLain
All four published short-print lists include this seventh-series high number.
About Denny McLain
McLain was 13-4 at midseason in 1966 and drew the American League start in the All-Star Game, throwing just 28 pitches to retire all nine men he faced. He finished 20-14 with a 3.92 ERA over 264 innings. Card #226 is a third-series League Leaders card that puts him with Sam McDowell, Mickey Lolich and Sonny Siebert, the league's top four strikeout men the year before. His own #540 lands in the seventh series, among the high numbers at the back of the set.
Dennis Dale McLain signed with the Chicago White Sox out of Mt. Carmel High School in Chicago in 1962, only for the Detroit Tigers to claim him on waivers the following April. He reached Detroit on September 21, 1963 at the age of 19 and homered in his major-league debut, the only home run he would ever hit. He became a workhorse right-hander through the mid-1960s, leaning on a heavy fastball that also made him easy to take deep; he led the American League in home runs allowed three straight years. His signature season came in 1968, when he went 31-6 with a 1.96 ERA to become the last pitcher to win 30 games in a season, taking both the American League Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player honors as Detroit won the World Series. A second straight Cy Young followed in 1969, shared with Baltimore's Mike Cuellar. McLain was a three-time All-Star, in 1966, 1968 and 1969. Suspensions, gambling troubles and a worn-out arm then undid him: traded to the Washington Senators in October 1970, he lost 22 games in 1971 and finished with Oakland and Atlanta in 1972, out of baseball by 1973. He retired 131-91 with a 3.39 ERA and 1,282 strikeouts over ten seasons.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 807 | 1 | 39 | 222 | 211 | 164 | 89 | 81 | 0 |
| SGC | 144 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 35 | 33 | 25 | 29 | 2 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted. Where SGC registers no separate row for a variation state, its slabs of that card are listed under the base state.
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Related cards
More Denny McLain in this set: #226 League Leaders
Team card: #583 Detroit Tigers
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #20 Willie Horton
- #38 Ron Nischwitz
- #58 Dave Wickersham
- #81 Ray Oyler
- #98 Don Demeter
- #113 Hank Aguirre
- #145 Bill Freehan
- #161 Jerry Lumpe
- #187 Chuck Dressen
- #198 Mickey Stanley
- #209 Tigers 1966 Rookie Stars
- #218 American League 1965 Home Run Leaders
- #220 American League 1965 RBI Leaders
- #226 American League 1965 Strikeout Leaders
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #540 card?
It is card #540 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers.
Why is #540 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the seventh and last print series, #523-598 - the scarce end of the set. Forty-three of its 76 cards are short prints, so scarcity is stated for the series as a whole.
How many cards are in the 1966 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 613 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps and no number used twice, and 14 cards carry catalogued print variations - five checklists, the trade and sold statement backs, the three-state #43 Don Landrum, three team-card dot pairs and the #161 Jerry Lumpe white streak - that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, Baseball Almanac, 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 2026-10-11.