1968 Topps #583 Gates Brown
About Gates Brown
Brown's 1968 Topps card is a series-seven high number, reporting a 1967 season wrecked by a wrist injury that limited him to 51 games and a career-low .187 average in just 91 at-bats. Card #583 is a seventh-series high number, though the season behind it was one of his weakest.
Gates Brown, born William James Brown, spent his entire thirteen-season career (1963-1975) with the Detroit Tigers after an unconventional path to professional baseball: convicted of burglary at eighteen, he served time at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, where a prison coach spotted his hitting and helped connect him to Tigers scouts Frank Skaff and Pat Mullin, who signed him for a $7,000 bonus. He debuted on June 19, 1963, hitting a pinch-hit home run at Fenway Park in his first major-league at-bat, the third player in American League history to do so. Playing left field for Detroit, Brown became the game's premier pinch-hitting specialist, retiring with American League career records of 107 pinch hits, 414 pinch-hit at-bats and 16 pinch-hit home runs. His signature 1968 season, a .370 average built almost entirely off the bench, helped the Tigers win the World Series. He later served as Detroit's hitting coach from 1978 through 1984. His mother's childhood nickname for him, 'Gates,' tied to his walk as a toddler, stuck for life.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 420 | 8 | 70 | 195 | 94 | 28 | 12 | 12 | 1 |
| SGC | 30 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 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.
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
- #178 Don Wert
- #201 Mike Marshall
- #226 Jimmie Price
- #240 Al Kaline
- #256 Norm Cash
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #583 card?
It is card #583 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Gates Brown of the Detroit Tigers.
Is 1968 Topps #583 a scarce card?
It is a high number card from the seventh print series, #534-598, by the checklist-card division. The last two series together (#458-598) carry only a modest premium; no short-print list exists.
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.