1968 Topps #222 Jim Hardin
About Jim Hardin
Hardin's 1968 Topps card (#222), part of the set's third series, doubles as his rookie card. He won 18 games against 13 losses with a 2.51 ERA across 35 starts for Baltimore, finishing fifth in the American League in both wins and complete games, and The Sporting News put him on its cover that June for the performance.
James Warren Hardin, a right-handed pitcher, reached the majors with the Baltimore Orioles in 1967 after signing out of Memphis State with the New York Mets for a $10,000 bonus, then moving to Baltimore in a 1965 minor-league draft. He had converted from catcher to pitcher only as a high-school senior when his team ran short of arms. Hardin battled control problems in the low minors before a strong 1967 stretch at Triple-A Rochester earned him a callup to replace an injured Jim Palmer. He stayed with the Orioles through 1970, part of the club's pennant-winning run, before arm trouble led to a May 1971 trade to the New York Yankees and a 1972 stint with the Atlanta Braves, his final major-league season. Over six seasons he went 43-32 with a 3.18 ERA. After retiring at 29 he built a career as a Xerox account representative in Miami and became an accomplished amateur golfer. Hardin died in 1991 when the small plane he was piloting crashed in Key West, Florida.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 365 | 12 | 97 | 199 | 36 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 20 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 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.
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Related cards
Team card: #334 Baltimore Orioles
More Baltimore Orioles cards:
- #2 American League 1967 Batting Leaders
- #4 American League 1967 RBI Leaders
- #20 Brooks Robinson
- #42 Larry Haney
- #56 Orioles 1968 Rookie Stars
- #82 Sam Bowens
- #97 Tom Phoebus
- #118 Mark Belanger
- #135 Paul Blair
- #163 Gene Brabender
- #186 Eddie Watt
- #194 Don Buford
- #204 Andy Etchebarren
- #242 Moe Drabowsky
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #222 card?
It is card #222 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Hardin of the Baltimore Orioles.
Is 1968 Topps #222 a rookie card?
Yes - #222 is the 1968 Topps rookie card of Jim Hardin.
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.