1967 Topps #284 Johnny Podres
About Johnny Podres
The first Topps card to show Podres in Detroit flannel, #284 covers a 1966 season split down the middle: one appearance for Los Angeles before the May 9 deal, then 4-5 in 36 games for the Tigers, used as a swingman rather than a rotation piece. He had picked the destination himself. Given a choice between Detroit and Boston, he took the club managed by Chuck Dressen, who had been his manager in Brooklyn; Dressen did not live to the end of that season. The fourth-series card arrives with one year left in him - 3-1 in 1967 for a Tigers team that pushed the American League race to the final day - before a season spent out of the majors.
John Joseph Podres was a left-hander out of Witherbee, a hamlet in New York's Adirondacks where his father worked the mines and pitched semipro ball on Sundays. Brooklyn signed him as an amateur free agent before the 1951 season, and by 1953 he was with the Dodgers, 9-4 as a rookie. Two years later he became folklore. Podres beat the Yankees in Game 3 of the 1955 World Series on his 23rd birthday, then started Game 7 on October 4 and shut them out 2-0 to give Brooklyn the only championship it ever won, taking home the first World Series Most Valuable Player Award ever given. The Navy claimed his 1956 season. He came back to lead the National League with a 2.66 earned run average and six shutouts in 1957, was named to four All-Star teams, and added three more rings after the club moved to Los Angeles. He finished at 148-116 with a 3.68 earned run average and 1,435 strikeouts, then coached pitchers for the Padres, Red Sox, Twins and Phillies across 23 seasons. Cooperstown honors the moment without ever having elected the man: a bronze of Podres stands outside the Hall of Fame, 60 feet six inches from a statue of Roy Campanella. The National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame inducted him in 2002.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 349 | 13 | 79 | 161 | 55 | 21 | 11 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 15 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
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. PSA registers a row for every one of the 624 states; SGC lists no separate row for the #149 white-streak state.
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Related cards
Team card: #378 Detroit Tigers
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #13 Joe Sparma
- #30 Al Kaline
- #48 Bill Freehan
- #72 Tigers 1967 Rookie Stars
- #88 Mickey Lolich
- #112 Dave Wickersham
- #134 Gates Brown
- #170 Dick McAuliffe
- #192 Fred Gladding
- #216 Bengal Belters
- #235 American League 1966 Pitching Leaders
- #237 American League 1966 Strikeout Leaders
- #239 American League 1966 Batting Leaders
- #247 Jerry Lumpe
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1967 Topps #284 card?
It is card #284 of the 609-card 1967 Topps Baseball set, picturing Johnny Podres of the Detroit Tigers.
How many cards are in the 1967 Topps Baseball set?
609 cards, tracked as 624 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 609 without a gap - no number was skipped and none was used twice - and 15 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, Baseball Almanac, BaseballCardPedia, 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 2026-10-12.