1968 Topps #85 Gaylord Perry
A Milton Bradley Win-A-Card version of this card exists - same photo and number, but printed with a yellow back instead of the standard orange.
About Gaylord Perry
Both cards are first-series issues. Card #11 is the National League strikeout leaders, where Perry's 230 trails Jim Bunning's 253 for the Phillies and Ferguson Jenkins's 236 for the Cubs. Card #85 is his own, and the season behind it is the one his record hid: with Juan Marichal down much of 1967 with a leg injury, Perry carried the staff to a 15-17 mark on a 2.61 ERA, 293 innings and 18 complete games, losing five times by 2-1. Watch #85 for a twin - the Milton Bradley Win-A-Card game reused the same photo and number on a card with a yellow back.
Gaylord Jackson Perry was born September 15, 1938, in Williamston, North Carolina, to tenant farmers, and signed with the San Francisco Giants in 1958. He debuted on April 14, 1962, and pitched 22 seasons for eight clubs through 1983. Taught the spitball by teammate Bob Shaw in 1964, he spent two decades denying it while fussing at his cap, hair and belt so hitters believed every pitch might be loaded. He told the story himself in 1974 in Me and the Spitter, and despite constant inspection was not ejected for doctoring a ball until 1982, his 21st season. He won 20 games five times, struck out 200 batters eight times, and was the first pitcher to take a Cy Young Award in both leagues - with Cleveland in 1972, going 24-16 with a 1.92 ERA, and with San Diego in 1978 at 40, going 21-6. He was a five-time All-Star. He and brother Jim were the first brothers each to win 200 games and remain the only pair each to win a Cy Young. Signing with Seattle in 1982 brought both the nickname the Ancient Mariner and his 300th win. He retired with 314 wins, a 3.11 ERA, 303 complete games and 3,534 strikeouts, and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991 on his third ballot.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · National Baseball Hall of Fame · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2) · Baseball Almanac (3)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 1,469 | 15 | 191 | 477 | 293 | 180 | 115 | 198 | 0 |
| SGC | 204 | 1 | 25 | 33 | 47 | 34 | 28 | 35 | 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.
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Related cards
More Gaylord Perry in this set: #11 League Leaders
More San Francisco Giants cards:
- #5 National League 1967 Home Run Leaders
- #9 National League 1967 Pitching Leaders
- #11 National League 1967 Strikeout Leaders
- #32 Joe Gibbon
- #50 Willie Mays
- #73 Jim Hart
- #104 Dick Dietz
- #126 Bobby Etheridge
- #147 Frank Linzy
- #169 Bob Bolin
- #185 Tom Haller
- #205 Juan Marichal
- #223 Ollie Brown
- #239 Bill Henry
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #85 card?
It is card #85 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Gaylord Perry of the San Francisco Giants.
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.