1967 Topps #456 Phil Niekro
About Phil Niekro
The fifth-series card #456 went into packs during the season that made Niekro. He had not started a single game for Atlanta the year before, and he opened 1967 in the bullpen again, but by mid-June he had pitched his way into the rotation and finished 11-9 with 20 starts, 10 complete games, nine saves and a 1.87 ERA that led the major leagues, the only ERA title of his career.
Phil Niekro, the son of an Ohio coal miner who taught him the knuckleball in the backyard, signed with the Milwaukee Braves organization as a teenager and reached the majors on April 15, 1964, after spending the 1963 season in the Army. Knucksie, a nickname The Sporting News first put in print during his 1969 breakout, rode that one pitch through 24 major-league seasons to a 318-274 record, a 3.35 ERA and 3,342 strikeouts, nearly all of it with the Braves from 1964 through 1983 plus a 1987 return, with later stops in New York, Cleveland and Toronto. He made five All-Star teams, won five Gold Gloves, led the National League in wins twice, in 1974 and 1979, and led the major leagues in ERA at 1.87 in 1967. On August 5, 1973, he no-hit the San Diego Padres for the Braves' first no-hitter since the move to Atlanta. At 46, on October 6, 1985, he shut out Toronto for career win number 300, and he is still the only knuckleballer to reach 300. He and younger brother Joe won 539 games between them, the most by any pair of brothers. The Hall of Fame elected him in 1997, his fifth year on the ballot, and he died in December 2020 at 81.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 858 | 3 | 60 | 286 | 191 | 129 | 83 | 106 | 0 |
| SGC | 127 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 20 | 26 | 26 | 31 | 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. PSA registers a row for every one of the 624 states; SGC lists no separate row for the #149 white-streak state.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1967 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #477 Atlanta Braves
More Atlanta Braves cards:
- #18 Gene Oliver
- #35 Rico Carty
- #57 Pat Jarvis
- #89 Felix Millan
- #101 Ken Johnson
- #113 Dave Nicholson
- #119 Wade Blasingame
- #138 Dick Kelley
- #179 Braves 1967 Rookie Stars
- #199 Billy Hitchcock
- #219 Clay Carroll
- #240 National League 1966 Batting Leaders
- #242 National League 1966 RBI Leaders
- #244 National League 1966 Home Run Leaders
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1967 Topps #456 card?
It is card #456 of the 609-card 1967 Topps Baseball set, picturing Phil Niekro of the Atlanta Braves.
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.