1968 Topps #521 Don Shaw
About Don Shaw
Shaw opened 1968 back in Triple-A Jacksonville after a spring back injury, but was recalled twice to cover for Mets pitchers on reserve duty and again as a September call-up, closing the year with ten straight scoreless innings. Across seven games for New York he went 0-0 with a 0.73 ERA. This card falls in the set's sixth print series.
Donald Wellington Shaw was a left-handed relief pitcher who spent parts of five seasons in the majors between 1967 and 1972, working 138 games for the Mets, Expos, Cardinals and Athletics. Born in Pittsburgh, he grew up in Reseda, California and pitched at San Diego State before the Mets drafted him in 1965. He broke in with New York in 1967, working exclusively out of the bullpen his rookie year. Montreal took him in the 1968 expansion draft, and he earned the win in the Expos' first-ever game against the Mets at Shea Stadium in April 1969, working three scoreless innings before the bullpen closed it out. A broken hand cost him most of 1970 after his contract moved to St. Louis, but he rebounded with a career-best 1971 season out of the Cardinals bullpen. Arm trouble and a trade to Oakland ended his major league career in 1972. He finished 13-14 with a 4.01 ERA and six saves, and later worked in the employee-benefits and health-insurance business.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 603 | 27 | 267 | 236 | 45 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 37 | 0 | 16 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 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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Related cards
Team card: #401 New York Mets
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- #45 Tom Seaver
- #63 Dick Kenworthy
- #92 Ed Kranepool
- #114 Ron Swoboda
- #132 Bud Harrelson
- #177 Mets 1968 Rookie Stars
- #191 Dan Frisella
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- #236 Tug McGraw
- #254 Cleon Jones
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- #313 Al Weis
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #521 card?
It is card #521 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Don Shaw of the New York Mets.
Is 1968 Topps #521 a scarce card?
It is from the sixth print series (cards 458-533). Together with series 7 it forms the #458-598 block that hobby sources price at a modest premium; several catalogs call these cards high numbers outright.
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.