1967 Topps #490 Tony Cloninger
About Tony Cloninger
The fun one is #396, the 'Atlanta Aces' combination card pairing Cloninger with Denis Menke - the same teammate whose bat he borrowed for both grand slams the summer before, and another six-figure bonus baby from the Braves' late-1950s spending spree. It sits in the fifth series. Solo #490 comes from the sixth series. Both report a 1966 comedown: 14-11 with a 4.12 ERA and 27 wild pitches, still the Atlanta franchise record, after he threw all 13 innings of the first game in Atlanta Braves history, a 3-2 loss to Pittsburgh.
Tony Lee Cloninger was a North Carolina fireballer who signed with the Milwaukee Braves in the spring of 1958 for a $100,000 bonus and reached the majors on June 15, 1961, two months shy of his 21st birthday. As Warren Spahn's career wound down, Cloninger took over as staff ace and led the Braves in wins three straight seasons, peaking in 1965 at 24-11 with a 3.29 ERA and 211 strikeouts. He could swing a bat, too: on July 3, 1966 he hit two grand slams and drove in nine runs in a 17-3 rout of the Giants, and he remains the only pitcher in major-league history to hit two slams in a game. A pulled shoulder muscle, an eye ailment and a sore elbow cost him most of 1967, and Atlanta traded him to Cincinnati in June 1968. He started Game Three of the 1970 World Series for the pennant-winning Reds, closed out his playing days with the Cardinals in 1972 at 113-97 with a 4.07 ERA over twelve seasons, then coached, winning four World Series rings in the New York Yankees bullpen. He was never elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame; the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame took him in 2004. Cloninger died on July 24, 2018.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Trading Card Database
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 259 | 1 | 43 | 135 | 60 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 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. 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
More Tony Cloninger in this set: #396 Combo
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 #490 card?
It is card #490 of the 609-card 1967 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tony Cloninger of the Atlanta Braves.
Why is #490 harder to find?
It is from the sixth print series, #458-533 - noticeably tougher than the first five.
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.