1968 Topps #406 Dick Ellsworth
About Dick Ellsworth
The fifth-series #406 is the first Ellsworth card to show him with Boston - Philadelphia sent him and Gene Oliver north for catcher Mike Ryan in December 1967 - but the line on the back is his one Phillies year: 6-7, 4.38, 21 starts among 32 games. Eleven of those were relief outings, 19 2/3 innings without an earned run, and he beat his old Cubs teammates with a six-hit shutout, his first since June 1964.
Richard Clark Ellsworth was born March 22, 1940, in Lusk, Wyoming, and grew up in Fresno, California, where he went 15-0 as a senior on a Fresno High staff that also produced Jim Maloney and Pat Corrales. Cubs scout Gene Handley signed him in June 1958, outbidding the Phillies, and the 18-year-old left-hander made his major-league debut nine days later, at Cincinnati on June 22. Back for good in 1960, he held a Cubs rotation spot for seven seasons: 20 losses in 1962, then 22 wins the next summer, the first Cubs 20-game winner in 18 years, which brought the Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year award and induction into the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame. He was an All-Star in 1964. Traded to Philadelphia for Ray Culp, he later pitched for the Red Sox, Indians and Brewers and retired in 1971 at 115-137 with a 3.72 ERA and 1,140 strikeouts over 13 seasons. He sold real estate in Fresno, bought into the Fresno Grizzlies, and died there on October 10, 2022. His son Steve pitched for the Red Sox.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 225 | 6 | 71 | 96 | 32 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 10 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 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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- #6 American League 1967 Home Run Leaders
- #10 American League 1967 Pitching Leaders
- #12 American League 1967 Strikeout Leaders
- #26 Darrell Brandon
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- #61 Reggie Smith
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #406 card?
It is card #406 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Dick Ellsworth of the Boston Red Sox.
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.