1968 Topps #450 Jim Kaat
Jim Kaat; HOF class of 2022
About Jim Kaat
Number 450 reports a season that turned on its final weekend. Kaat opened 1967 at 1-7, then closed with a September tear - 7-0 with a 1.51 ERA - that carried Minnesota to Fenway Park needing one win in two games for the pennant. He was ahead 1-0 in the third inning on Saturday when his arm gave out; he left with the injury that ended his year, the bullpen gave up six, and Boston took that game and Sunday's as well. The full line, 16-13 with a 3.04 ERA in 263 1/3 innings, includes 211 strikeouts - more than he recorded in any other season of his 25.
Jim Kaat pitched 25 seasons in the major leagues, 1959 through 1983, the longest career any pitcher had put together to that point, and spent the heart of it as the left-handed anchor of the Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins staff before finishing with the White Sox, Phillies, Yankees and Cardinals. A 6-foot-4 southpaw nicknamed Kitty, he worked so fast between pitches that he confounded umpires and annoyed the hitters standing in against him. He won 283 games, 190 of them for the Senators and Twins, more than anyone in the Minnesota era of the franchise, and put together three 20-win seasons, with a record eight-year gap between the first two. He was a three-time All-Star and the most decorated fielding pitcher of his era, taking 16 straight Gold Gloves, still the longest run at the position, though Greg Maddux later won more in total. He waited until he was 43 to get a World Series ring, working out of the bullpen for the 1982 Cardinals. He finished with a 3.45 ERA, 2,461 strikeouts, 180 complete games and 898 appearances, then spent more than two decades as an Emmy-winning broadcaster. The writers never came close to electing him; the Golden Days Era Committee did, for the Hall of Fame class of 2022.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · National Baseball Hall of Fame · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 638 | 20 | 186 | 221 | 70 | 59 | 43 | 39 | 0 |
| SGC | 64 | 0 | 8 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 8 | 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
Team card: #137 Minnesota Twins
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #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
- #28 Ted Uhlaender
- #44 Frank Kostro
- #64 Jim Merritt
- #80 Rod Carew
- #91 Jim Ollom
- #111 Rich Reese
- #165 Tony Oliva
- #181 Jerry Zimmerman
- #206 Cal Ermer
- #220 Harmon Killebrew
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #450 card?
It is card #450 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Kaat of the Minnesota Twins.
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.