1968 Topps #451 Al Spangler
About Al Spangler
Card 451 comes out of the fifth series of 1968, a regular number. Spangler had signed with Chicago as a free agent on February 16, 1967, three days after the Angels let him go, and by 1968 the winter arrivals of Lou Johnson and Jim Hickman had pushed him off the outfield chart. Leo Durocher turned him into the bench bat instead, and Spangler read up on Jerry Lynch and Smoky Burgess to learn the craft. He hit .271 in 88 games, beating Tom Seaver 2-1 with an 11th-inning pinch single on July 13 and taking Bob Gibson deep as a pinch hitter on August 4.
Al Spangler was a left-handed-hitting, left-handed-throwing outfielder who played 13 major league seasons, 1959-1971, for the Milwaukee Braves, Houston Colt .45s/Astros, Los Angeles/California Angels, and Chicago Cubs. Born in Philadelphia in 1933, he starred at Olney High School and then at Duke University, where he was an All-American after batting .406 as a junior; his speed and pesky, table-setting hitting drew comparisons to Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn. He signed with Milwaukee in June 1954, lost two years to the Army, and reached the majors in September 1959, only to sit behind a crowded Braves outfield that always wanted more power. Houston took him in the premium phase of the October 1961 expansion draft, and he finally played every day, batting .285 and .281 in the Colt .45s' first two seasons. Part-time work followed with the Angels and Cubs, where Leo Durocher made him a bench bat. In 912 games he hit .262 with 594 hits, 87 doubles, 26 triples, 21 home runs and 175 runs batted in. He coached for Chicago in 1971, managed in its farm system in 1972 and 1973, and returned to the Cubs' coaching staff in 1974.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 317 | 16 | 112 | 132 | 29 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 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. Slabs of the yellow team-letter #49 and #66 are 1968 Milton Bradley game cards and are not counted here.
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Related cards
More Chicago Cubs cards:
- #5 National League 1967 Home Run Leaders
- #9 National League 1967 Pitching Leaders
- #11 National League 1967 Strikeout Leaders
- #13 Chuck Hartenstein
- #37 Billy Williams
- #60 Ken Holtzman
- #83 John Stephenson
- #101 Glenn Beckert
- #119 Ted Savage
- #136 Randy Hundley
- #159 Don Kessinger
- #179 Bill Stoneman
- #184 Lou Johnson
- #202 Adolfo Phillips
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #451 card?
It is card #451 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Al Spangler of the Chicago Cubs.
How many cards are in the 1968 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 606 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 598 without a gap and no printed number carries two different cards; eight cards - six of the seven checklists, #10 AL Pitching Leaders and #400 Mike McCormick - carry a catalogued print variation that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball Almanac, Beckett, 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.