1968 Topps #46 Dave Ricketts
About Dave Ricketts
A first-series card, #46, printed while Ricketts was coming off a championship autumn. Johnny Edwards arrived that winter and pushed him to third catcher, a job he filled by throwing batting practice and warming up relievers; he started once all year, in late September after St. Louis had clinched, and hit .136 in 22 at-bats. His one swing that counted was a pinch single off Denny McLain in the seven-game Series loss to Detroit.
David William Ricketts was a bespectacled, switch-hitting catcher who played parts of six major league seasons between 1963 and 1970 for the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates. Born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, in 1935, he starred in baseball and basketball at Duquesne University, won a National Invitation Tournament title alongside his older brother Dick, and graduated in 1957 with an education degree he later put to work teaching mathematics and social studies in the offseasons. He signed with St. Louis that June, missed 1958 and 1959 on Army duty, and spent most of a decade in the minors before a .327 year at Tulsa in 1966 finally earned him a big league job he never gave back. He caught behind Tim McCarver on the 1967 world champions, dropped to third catcher once Johnny Edwards arrived in 1968, and was traded to Pittsburgh after the 1969 season. His only home run came off Bob Veale in September 1967. Ricketts then built a longer second career in uniform, coaching the Pirates bullpen from 1971 through 1973, including a championship club, and the Cardinals bullpen across parts of two decades, one of the few Black coaches in the game when he started. He died of renal cancer in 2008, a day after his 73rd birthday.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 426 | 25 | 132 | 198 | 45 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 24 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 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: #497 St. Louis Cardinals
More St. Louis Cardinals cards:
- #3 National League 1967 RBI Leaders
- #25 Julian Javier
- #68 Ron Willis
- #84 Bob Tolan
- #100 Bob Gibson
- #117 Larry Jaster
- #141 Dal Maxvill
- #151 World Series Game #1 - Brock Socks 4-Hits in Opener
- #153 World Series Game #3 - Briles Cools Off Boston
- #154 World Series Game #4 - Gibson Hurls Shutout!
- #157 World Series Game #7 - St. Louis Wins It!
- #158 1967 World Series - The Cardinals Celebrate!
- #162 Cardinals 1968 Rookie Stars
- #180 Curt Flood
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #46 card?
It is card #46 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Dave Ricketts of the St. Louis Cardinals.
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.