1967 Topps #553 Yankees Rookie Stars - Mike Hegan / Thad Tillotson
On this card: Mike Hegan, Thad Tillotson
About this card
This is one of the 43 Rookie Stars cards in the set, each pairing two prospects. Thirty-nine are titled by club; #569, #576, #587 and #592 carry a league title and cover two clubs each.
The story on this card
Military reserve duty kept Hegan away from the Yankees until May 12, 1967; he went on to appear in 68 games that season, batting .136 with his first career home run, hit September 1 off Washington's Dick Lines in the 12th inning. His 1967 Topps card, #553 from print series seven, is a high number Rookie Stars issue shared with fellow Yankee pitcher Thad Tillotson, and it marks Hegan's rookie card. A Cleveland-born first baseman and outfielder who spent twelve American League seasons with the Yankees, Pilots, Athletics and Brewers, Mike Hegan was the first player signed by the expansion Seattle Pilots and later won a World Series with Oakland.
Tillotson made his major league debut with the Yankees on April 14, 1967, and worked in 43 games that year, going 3-9 with a 4.03 ERA over 98.1 innings and 62 strikeouts. This card is part of the seventh and final print series, a high number shared with fellow Yankees rookie Mike Hegan under the Rookie Stars banner, and it stands as Tillotson's recognized rookie card. A right-handed relief pitcher from Merced, California, who reached the majors with the Yankees in 1967, went 4-9 with a 4.06 ERA across two big league seasons, then finished his career pitching in Japan.
Sources: Wikipedia (Mike Hegan) · Wikipedia (Thad Tillotson) · SABR BioProject
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 564 | 0 | 49 | 211 | 147 | 91 | 36 | 28 | 2 |
| SGC | 53 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 16 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
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: #131 New York Yankees
More New York Yankees cards:
- #5 Whitey Ford
- #25 Elston Howard
- #77 Dooley Womack
- #93 Yankees 1967 Rookie Stars
- #150 Mickey Mantle
- #169 Horace Clarke
- #201 Hal Reniff
- #225 Mel Stottlemyre
- #257 Charley Smith
- #277 Steve Whitaker
- #289 Tom Tresh
- #308 Al Downing
- #340 Joe Pepitone
- #358 Ruben Amaro
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1967 Topps #553 card?
It is card #553 of the 609-card 1967 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mike Hegan and Thad Tillotson. This is one of the 43 Rookie Stars cards in the set, each pairing two prospects. Thirty-nine are titled by club; #569, #576, #587 and #592 carry a league title and cover two clubs each.
Is 1967 Topps #553 a rookie card?
Yes - #553 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Mike Hegan and Thad Tillotson.
Why is #553 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the seventh and last print series, #534-609 - the scarce end of the set, holding both Hall of Fame rookies (Carew #569, Seaver #581). Twenty-two of the 76 are accepted double prints, so scarcity varies card by card inside the run.
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.