1968 Topps #216 Bubba Morton
About Bubba Morton
Morton spent all of 1968 on the Angels roster, his first season without a trip back to the minors since 1962, and he spent it exactly where California wanted him: 38 of his 39 starts came against left-handed pitching, and he made 41 more appearances off the bench as a pinch-hitter, going 10-for-32 in that role. His lone home run of the year came off Tommy John on May 6. He finished at .270 in 163 at-bats over 81 games with 18 runs batted in. Number 216 is a third-series card.
Wycliffe Nathaniel Morton, known as Bubba, was born December 13, 1931, in Washington, D.C., served four years in the Coast Guard as a radio operator, then enrolled at Howard University, where he majored in engineering and lettered in football and baseball. Detroit signed him in March 1955 as the third Black player in the organization's history, and he spent six seasons in the minors, opening 1957 as one of the first two Black players for the Durham Bulls and winning the Venezuelan winter-league batting title at .389 after the 1960 season. A right-handed spray hitter with speed and excellent defense, he made Detroit's roster in 1961 and played parts of seven big-league seasons as a platoon outfielder and pinch-hitter for the Tigers, Milwaukee Braves, and California Angels, finishing with a .267 average, 14 home runs, and 128 RBIs in 451 games. After a 1970 season in Japan with the Toei Flyers he settled in Seattle, and in December 1971 he was hired to run the University of Washington baseball program, becoming the school's first Black head coach in any sport; he held the job through 1976. He died in Seattle on January 14, 2006.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 306 | 6 | 91 | 157 | 30 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 20 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 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
Team card: #252 California Angels
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- #121 Jimmie Hall
- #143 Pete Cimino
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- #193 Jack Hamilton
- #238 Tom Satriano
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- #289 Woody Held
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- #347 George Brunet
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #216 card?
It is card #216 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bubba Morton of the California Angels.
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.