1968 Topps #355 Ernie Banks
About Ernie Banks
Series-4 #355 reports a real bounce-back: .276 with 23 home runs and 95 RBI in 1967, plus an All-Star trip, in a season that also made the 36-year-old Banks a Cubs player-coach. The club climbed with him, going 87-74 for third place, 28 wins better than the 103-loss team of 1966.
Ernest Banks of Dallas turned pro in 1950 with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro American League, then spent two Army years in Germany during the Korean War. The Cubs bought his contract in September 1953, and he became the first Black player to appear in a game for Chicago, debuting on the 17th without ever spending a day in the minors. A shortstop until he became the Cubs' regular first baseman in 1962, Banks was the first National League player to win back-to-back MVP awards, in 1958 and 1959, both for losing clubs. He hit a major-league-best 47 home runs in 1958, led the NL in RBI both seasons with 129 and then 143, and in 1960 won the first Gold Glove given a Cub. Called Mr. Cub and Mr. Sunshine for the disposition behind his standing invitation to play two, he was an All-Star in 11 seasons, played in 14 All-Star Games, and hit 512 home runs, the 500th on May 12, 1970, at Wrigley Field. He retired after 1971 having never played a postseason game. His No. 14 became the first number the Cubs retired, in 1982; he entered the Hall of Fame in 1977 on the first ballot, took the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013, and died in Chicago in 2015.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 3,711 | 27 | 181 | 752 | 698 | 630 | 478 | 940 | 5 |
| SGC | 1,116 | 1 | 17 | 78 | 177 | 238 | 235 | 358 | 12 |
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
More Chicago Cubs cards:
- #5 National League 1967 Home Run Leaders
- #9 National League 1967 Pitching Leaders
- #11 National League 1967 Strikeout Leaders
- #13 Chuck Hartenstein
- #37 Billy Williams
- #60 Ken Holtzman
- #83 John Stephenson
- #101 Glenn Beckert
- #119 Ted Savage
- #136 Randy Hundley
- #159 Don Kessinger
- #179 Bill Stoneman
- #184 Lou Johnson
- #202 Adolfo Phillips
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #355 card?
It is card #355 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs.
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.