1968 Topps #505 Joe Sparma
About Joe Sparma
Sparma's 1968 Topps card, #505 from the sixth series, shows him during a season defined by a public rift with manager Mayo Smith. Benched for weeks in Smith's doghouse, Sparma still delivered the biggest start of his career on September 17, a complete-game win over the Yankees that clinched Detroit's first pennant since 1945.
Joe Sparma was a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher who spent parts of seven big-league seasons, six of them with the Detroit Tigers, after signing with Detroit as an amateur free agent in 1963. A two-way star at Ohio State, he quarterbacked the Buckeyes under Woody Hayes before leaving school to pursue baseball, then debuted in the majors in May 1964. His fastball and overhand curve made him a rotation regular, and his best season came in 1967, when he went 16-9 with a 3.76 ERA and five shutouts. Command remained his lifelong obstacle, and it fueled a public feud with manager Mayo Smith in 1968. Sparma answered that tension with the biggest start of his career, a September 17, 1968 complete-game win over the New York Yankees that clinched Detroit's first pennant since 1945; he later pitched briefly in that year's World Series. Traded to the Montreal Expos after the 1969 season, he finished his playing days there in 1970. Sparma died in Columbus, Ohio in 1986 at age 44.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 501 | 15 | 113 | 232 | 74 | 30 | 18 | 19 | 0 |
| SGC | 33 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1968 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #528 Detroit Tigers
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #2 American League 1967 Batting Leaders
- #10 American League 1967 Pitching Leaders
- #22 Pat Dobson
- #40 Denny McLain
- #58 Ed Mathews
- #78 Jim Northrup
- #113 Tigers 1968 Rookie Stars
- #129 Mickey Stanley
- #160 Earl Wilson
- #178 Don Wert
- #201 Mike Marshall
- #226 Jimmie Price
- #240 Al Kaline
- #256 Norm Cash
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #505 card?
It is card #505 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Joe Sparma of the Detroit Tigers.
Is 1968 Topps #505 a scarce card?
It is from the sixth print series (cards 458-533). Together with series 7 it forms the #458-598 block that hobby sources price at a modest premium; several catalogs call these cards high numbers outright.
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.