1968 Topps #178 Don Wert
About Don Wert
Card #178, second series, went out before a season that broke both ways for Wert. On June 24 a pitch from Cleveland sidearmer Hal Kurtz caught him in the head, shattered his batting helmet and put him in the hospital for two nights; he came back wearing an earflap and hit .179 the rest of the way, finishing at a career-low .200. Yet Dick Williams picked him for the All-Star team anyway, and he doubled off Tom Seaver in the Astrodome. On September 17, with the bases loaded and two out in the ninth, his single scored Al Kaline and clinched Detroit's pennant. In Game Seven of the World Series he singled home Dick Tracewski off Bob Gibson.
Don Wert was a right-handed third baseman who spent nine major league seasons, eight of them at Detroit's hot corner. Born in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, in 1938, he starred in three sports at Solanco High School, was signed by the Tigers out of Lancaster County in 1958 for $5,000, and climbed through Valdosta, Durham, Denver and Syracuse before debuting in Detroit in May 1963 at age 24. He took over as the Tigers' regular third baseman the next spring and held the job through 1970. Never a big bat, he built his reputation on defense, and his own managers and rival ones alike measured him against Brooks Robinson and Clete Boyer. He was named to the American League All-Star team in 1968 and won a World Series ring with Detroit that October. The Tigers traded him to Washington in October 1970 in the eight-player deal that also sent Denny McLain east; the Senators released him in June 1971 and his playing career ended at 32. Wert finished with 929 hits, 77 home runs, 366 RBIs and a .242 average across 1,110 games, 1,043 of them at third base. He returned to eastern Pennsylvania to farm and to coach baseball part-time at Franklin and Marshall College, and died there in 2024 at 86.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · SABR Games Project · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 375 | 8 | 52 | 153 | 85 | 41 | 16 | 20 | 0 |
| SGC | 16 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1968 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #528 Detroit Tigers
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #2 American League 1967 Batting Leaders
- #10 American League 1967 Pitching Leaders
- #22 Pat Dobson
- #40 Denny McLain
- #58 Ed Mathews
- #78 Jim Northrup
- #113 Tigers 1968 Rookie Stars
- #129 Mickey Stanley
- #160 Earl Wilson
- #201 Mike Marshall
- #226 Jimmie Price
- #240 Al Kaline
- #256 Norm Cash
- #285 Dick McAuliffe
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #178 card?
It is card #178 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Don Wert of the Detroit Tigers.
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.