1968 Topps #449 Gene Oliver
About Gene Oliver
Philadelphia packaged Oliver with pitcher Dick Ellsworth on December 15, 1967, sending both to the Boston Red Sox for catcher Mike Ryan and cash. Manager Dick Williams promised him a real look, and Russ Gibson's March appendectomy opened the door, but Oliver managed only five hits in 35 at-bats for the defending American League champions. Boston sold him to the Chicago Cubs on June 27, and he had been there less than a month when torn knee cartilage sent him to surgery. Card 449 shows him in a Red Sox uniform in the fifth series.
Eugene George Oliver (1935-2007) was born in Moline, Illinois, the fourth of five children of a Belgian father and a Polish mother. A three-sport star at Alleman Catholic High in Rock Island, he turned down a $60,000 bonus from the Detroit Tigers to take a football scholarship to Northwestern, then lost both when a shoulder separation ended his football career. He rehabilitated the arm, signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in January 1956, and hit .333 with 39 home runs in Class D that first summer. Oliver debuted in St. Louis on June 6, 1959, led the Pacific Coast League with 36 homers for Portland in 1961, and became the Cardinals' regular catcher in 1962 before a June 1963 trade sent him to the Milwaukee Braves. His best year came in 1965: .270 with 21 home runs. Stints with the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs closed out a ten-year career that finished at .246 with 93 home runs and 320 RBIs in 786 games. A strong-armed catcher, first baseman and left fielder known for his wit, he instructed in the minors into the 1980s, was inducted into the Quad Cities Sports Hall of Fame in 1996, and died in Rock Island in 2007.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 250 | 7 | 62 | 121 | 32 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 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
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #2 American League 1967 Batting Leaders
- #4 American League 1967 RBI Leaders
- #6 American League 1967 Home Run Leaders
- #10 American League 1967 Pitching Leaders
- #12 American League 1967 Strikeout Leaders
- #26 Darrell Brandon
- #43 Gary Bell
- #61 Reggie Smith
- #87 Dick Williams
- #106 Dalton Jones
- #123 Jose Santiago
- #140 Tony Conigliaro
- #152 World Series Game #2 - Yaz Smashes Two Homers
- #155 World Series Game #5 - Lonborg Wins Again!
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #449 card?
It is card #449 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Gene Oliver of the Boston Red Sox.
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.