1968 Topps #125 Joe Horlen
About Joe Horlen
Chicago lost its first ten games of 1968 and burned through three managers, and Horlen pitched the whole year on a shoulder full of calcium deposits, yet he was the workhorse of the staff: a 2.37 ERA over 223 2/3 innings, including a career-best 37-inning scoreless streak in May built around a ten-inning, four-hit shutout of Oakland. The Sox scored 15 runs total in his losses and he came out 12-14. Three cards here: #8, a first-series League Leaders card with Gary Peters and Sonny Siebert; #125 in the second series; and #377, a fifth-series Sporting News All-Star whose back is one piece of a puzzle.
Joel Edward Horlen, born August 14, 1937 in San Antonio, Texas, pitched for the Chicago White Sox from 1961 through 1971 and closed his career with the 1972 Oakland Athletics. Friends called him Joe. He starred at Oklahoma State, leading the Cowboys past Arizona for the 1959 College World Series title before signing with Chicago, and he is the rare ballplayer to win a Pony League World Series in 1952, a College World Series, and a big-league World Series. A slender right-hander who lived on a hard curve, a sinker and fine control rather than velocity, he anchored a White Sox staff that pitched brilliantly and scored almost nothing, which is how Hard Luck Horlen got his name. From 1964 through 1968 he led all American League pitchers with a combined 2.32 ERA. In 1967 he no-hit Detroit, won the ERA title, made his only All-Star team and finished second in the Cy Young voting. Released in the spring of 1972, he caught on with Oakland and earned a World Series ring in relief that fall. He retired at 116-117 with a 3.11 ERA and 1,065 strikeouts in 2,002 innings, and was later inducted into the Oklahoma State and San Antonio Sports halls of fame. He died in his hometown on April 10, 2022, at 84.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 304 | 8 | 86 | 141 | 41 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 15 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 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 Joe Horlen in this set: #8 League Leaders, #377 Sporting News All-Stars
Team card: #424 Chicago White Sox
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #8 American League 1967 ERA Leaders
- #14 Jerry McNertney
- #33 Pete Ward
- #51 Bob Locker
- #72 Tommy John
- #99 Rocky Colavito
- #142 White Sox 1968 Rookie Stars
- #172 Walt Williams
- #210 Gary Peters
- #229 Fred Klages
- #259 Ken Boyer
- #265 Tommy Davis
- #287 White Sox 1968 Rookie Stars
- #310 Luis Aparicio
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #125 card?
It is card #125 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Joe Horlen of the Chicago White 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.