1968 Topps #286 Cecil Upshaw
About Cecil Upshaw
After a slow start in 1968, Upshaw began keeping notes on mechanical adjustments, including a tip from catcher Bob Uecker about telegraphing his screwball grip. The corrections turned his season around: he finished 8-7 with a 2.47 ERA and 13 saves for the Braves, four of them preserving wins for his cousin, pitcher George Stone. This card, from the set's fourth print series, is a single-player issue for Upshaw with Atlanta.
Cecil Upshaw was a 6-foot-6 sidearm relief pitcher who spent nine seasons in the majors, most of them anchoring the Atlanta Braves bullpen. Signed by the Milwaukee Braves out of Centenary College for a $30,000 bonus, he debuted in October 1966 and became the club's closer, ranking among the National League's top ten in saves four times between 1968 and 1972, including a career-high 27 saves in the Braves' 1969 division-winning season. His career was nearly derailed in April 1970 when he tore ligaments in his pitching hand attempting to touch an awning on a San Diego sidewalk with teammates; he returned to form in 1971 after months of rehabilitation. He was later traded to the Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, and finally the Chicago White Sox, retiring after the 1975 season with 86 career saves and a 3.13 ERA over 348 games. He died in 1995 at age 52.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 271 | 10 | 66 | 136 | 33 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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: #221 Atlanta Braves
More Atlanta Braves cards:
- #3 National League 1967 RBI Leaders
- #5 National League 1967 Home Run Leaders
- #7 National League 1967 ERA Leaders
- #30 Joe Torre
- #55 Felipe Alou
- #76 Braves 1968 Rookie Stars
- #93 Tony Cloninger
- #110 Hank Aaron
- #134 Pat Jarvis
- #166 Claude Raymond
- #174 Bob Tillman
- #187 Sonny Jackson
- #203 Dick Kelley
- #241 Felix Millan
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #286 card?
It is card #286 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Cecil Upshaw of the Atlanta Braves.
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.