1966 Topps #122 Joe Gaines
About Joe Gaines
The Astros barely used him in 1966: 11 games, 13 at-bats, one hit and a .077 average, with his final major league appearance coming on October 2. Most of that season and the two that followed were spent in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. Topps still printed him, at #122 in the second series, the earliest number he ever drew and an easy one to find. The Houston portrait turned out to be the last Topps card of his playing days.
Arnesta Joe Gaines, who went by his middle name, was a right-handed outfielder born in Bryan, Texas on November 22, 1936. He came up through Oakland Technical High School in California and signed with Cincinnati as an amateur free agent in 1956. In 1957 he hit .359 with 14 home runs and 119 RBI for Class C Visalia of the California League. Brief trials with the Reds followed - he debuted on June 29, 1960 - before he stuck as a reserve outfielder in 1962. Traded to Baltimore that December, he had his best year in 1963, batting .286 while spelling left-handed-hitting Boog Powell in left field, then moved to Houston in a June 1964 deal that handed him a regular right field job until Rusty Staub reclaimed it in 1965. Gaines finished with a .241 average, 21 home runs and 95 RBI in 362 major league games. He spent most of 1966 through 1968 in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League and closed out his playing days with 51 games for Japan's Hanshin Tigers in 1969. He died in Oakland on May 30, 2023, at 86.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 165 | 2 | 21 | 76 | 42 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
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 Houston Astros cards:
- #21 Don Nottebart
- #45 Jim Gentile
- #64 Bob Bruce
- #86 John Bateman
- #106 Rusty Staub
- #147 Lum Harris
- #162 Lee Maye
- #174 Ron Taylor
- #195 Joe Morgan
- #228 Larry Dierker
- #244 Astros 1966 Rookie Stars
- #258 Dave Giusti
- #273 Astro Aces
- #297 Jim Owens
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #122 card?
It is card #122 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Joe Gaines of the Houston Astros.
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.