1966 Topps #282 Johnny Lewis
About Johnny Lewis
After the Mets in 1965 tried fitting him with eyeglasses to fix his hitting slumps, spring training in 1966 revealed the real culprit was a closed batting stance blocking his view of inside pitches. Lewis started the season hot before slumping badly in May and June, and on July 7 the Mets optioned him to Jacksonville, where he rebounded to hit .284 with 13 home runs in 71 games before a September recall. This third-series card lands in the year his big-league playing time shrank to 65 games.
Johnny Lewis was an outfielder from Greenville, Alabama who reached the majors with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1964 after years of Cardinals farm-system seasoning, including an All-Star year at Double-A Tulsa. Traded to the New York Mets that December, the left-handed hitter had his best season in 1965, playing 148 games and leading the club in runs and walks. He is remembered for a game-winning 11th-inning home run that broke up a Jim Maloney no-hit bid at Crosley Field. Nicknamed The Gunner by Mets teammates for his strong outfield arm, Lewis split most of his time between right and center field over four big-league seasons before finishing his playing career in the minors. He later returned to the Cardinals organization as their first African-American on-field coach and spent years as a hitting coach and scout.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 251 | 7 | 36 | 129 | 54 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 9 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 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
Team card: #172 New York Mets
More New York Mets cards:
- #17 Johnny Stephenson
- #35 Ron Swoboda
- #51 Gordon Richardson
- #67 Mets 1966 Rookie Stars
- #87 Dan Napoleon
- #108 Bobby Klaus
- #124 Tug McGraw
- #154 Chuck Hiller
- #188 Al Luplow
- #191 Darrell Sutherland
- #212 Ed Kranepool
- #241 Dennis Ribant
- #262 Jack Hamilton
- #302 Ernie Bowman
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #282 card?
It is card #282 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Johnny Lewis of the New York Mets.
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.