1968 Topps #403 John Buzhardt
About John Buzhardt
Card #403 is a fifth-series issue and his only Houston card of the run, covering a 1967 split three ways. He went 3-9 in 88.2 innings for the White Sox, his control gone, walking 18 in 33 innings over six starts; then seven games in Baltimore after an August 21 sale; then one appearance for the Astros, who bought him on September 25. The year turned on June 12 at Washington, when he came in from the bullpen in the 14th inning and shut out the Senators until Paul Casanova singled home the winner in the 22nd, six hours and thirty-eight minutes in.
John William Buzhardt was a right-handed pitcher from Prosperity, South Carolina, signed by the Chicago Cubs for $250 in June 1954 and moved through seven minor league stops before reaching the majors on September 10, 1958. He spent eleven seasons (1958-1968) with the Cubs, Phillies, White Sox, Orioles and Astros, finishing 71-96 with a 3.66 ERA and 678 strikeouts. A thinking man's pitcher, he lived on control and a sinker kept low in the zone, and never lost to the Yankees, going 7-0 against them. His rookie September in 1958 brought wins over Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax, and on June 21, 1959, he one-hit Philadelphia 4-0 in under two hours. The January 1960 trade that sent Richie Ashburn to Chicago made him a Phillie, and in 1961 he became the man who stopped their 23-game losing streak, still the modern-era record. A November 1961 deal that sent Roy Sievers to Philadelphia brought him to the White Sox and his best years, a 2.42 ERA in 1963 and a career-high 13 wins in 1965. Bounced through three organizations in 1967, his children in four school systems in one year, he turned down a 1969 contract and went home to Prosperity, where a production job grew into a supervisor's post before his death in 2008 at age 71.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 330 | 31 | 107 | 142 | 28 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 15 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 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 Houston Astros cards:
- #5 National League 1967 Home Run Leaders
- #21 Ron Davis
- #41 Julio Gotay
- #57 Dan Schneider
- #77 Don Wilson
- #95 Bob Aspromonte
- #128 Houston 1968 Rookie Stars
- #144 Joe Morgan
- #161 Norm Miller
- #182 Dave Giusti
- #207 Carroll Sembera
- #232 Denis Menke
- #260 Jim Wynn
- #274 Mike Cuellar
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #403 card?
It is card #403 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Buzhardt of the Houston Astros.
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.