1968 Topps #253 Dick Hughes
About Dick Hughes
Hughes' 1968 Topps card, #253, part of the set's third print series, followed his breakout rookie season with St. Louis. That spring he felt pain in his pitching shoulder that proved to be a torn rotator cuff; he pitched through it for 64 innings in 1968, his final active season, and the Cardinals returned to the World Series, this time losing to the Detroit Tigers.
Dick Hughes was a right-handed pitcher who spent nine seasons in the minor leagues, plus winter ball in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, before reaching the St. Louis Cardinals in September 1966. He broke through in 1967, at age 29, going 16-6 with a 2.67 ERA to lead the world champion Cardinals' rotation and finishing runner-up to Tom Seaver for National League Rookie of the Year; St. Louis beat the Boston Red Sox in that year's World Series. Hughes credited late-career gains in control, and a reliance on his slider and cut fastball, for the turnaround after years of wildness as a minor leaguer. In spring training of 1968 he felt pain in his throwing shoulder that was later identified as a torn rotator cuff, an injury with no surgical fix at the time. He pitched through it for 64 innings in 1968, his last active season, and appeared again with the Cardinals in the 1968 World Series loss to Detroit. He finished his three-year career with a 20-9 record and a 2.78 ERA, all with St. Louis.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 345 | 15 | 82 | 171 | 50 | 18 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 22 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 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
- #46 Dave Ricketts
- #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
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #253 card?
It is card #253 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Dick Hughes 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.