1966 Topps #499 Wally Bunker
About Wally Bunker
Card #499 is Bunker's only 1966 Topps issue, out of the sixth series. It reports a 1965 season the shoulder shortened: he opened in the bullpen, carried a 7.16 ERA through April, and finished 10-8 with a 3.38 ERA over 34 games and 27 starts. Months after the card shipped he shut out the Dodgers 1-0 in Game 3 of the World Series, six hits, six strikeouts and one walk, outpitching Claude Osteen.
Wallace Edward Bunker signed with the Baltimore Orioles for a $75,000 bonus out of Capuchino High School in San Bruno, California, and reached the majors at 18. His 1964 rookie season remains one of the best in Orioles history: 19-5 with a 2.69 ERA and the American League's top winning percentage at .792, good for The Sporting News AL Rookie Pitcher of the Year award and a place on the Topps All-Star Rookie Team. A rotator cuff injury in late September 1964 began years of arm trouble, yet Bunker still threw a six-hit, 1-0 shutout of the Dodgers in Game 3 of Baltimore's 1966 World Series sweep, part of a Series-record 33 1/3 scoreless innings by Orioles pitching. Kansas City took him in the October 1968 expansion draft, and he led the first Royals staff in wins. His last major league season was 1971; he retired in June 1972 at 27, at 60-52 with a 3.51 ERA. San Mateo County's Sports Hall of Fame inducted him in 1995.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2) · Baseball Almanac (3)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 186 | 1 | 14 | 87 | 56 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 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: #348 Baltimore Orioles
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- #27 Orioles 1966 Rookie Stars
- #48 Paul Blair
- #90 Luis Aparicio
- #105 Milt Pappas
- #126 Jim Palmer
- #136 Woody Held
- #148 Bob Johnson
- #167 Boog Powell
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1966 Topps #499 card?
It is card #499 of the 598-card 1966 Topps Baseball set, picturing Wally Bunker of the Baltimore Orioles.
Why is #499 harder to find?
It is from the sixth print series, #447-522 - noticeably tougher than the first five. Nothing in #447-522 is short-printed.
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.