1968 Topps #307 John Hiller
About John Hiller
1968 Topps #307 shows Hiller with the Tigers in the set's fourth print series, a standard-issue card. That season Hiller was part of Detroit's World Series championship club, going 9-6 with a 2.39 ERA across 39 games, 12 as a starter. On August 6 he set a major league record by striking out the first six batters he faced to open a game against Cleveland, and he followed with a one-hit shutout of the White Sox on August 20.
John Hiller, a Toronto native who grew up playing hockey before turning to baseball, pitched 15 seasons for the Detroit Tigers (1965-1980), working mostly out of the bullpen with occasional spot starts. He broke in as a September call-up in 1965. A member of the 1968 World Series champion Tigers, he set a major league record that August by striking out six consecutive batters to open a game. In January 1971 he suffered a heart attack and underwent intestinal surgery, missing the entire 1971 season; he returned to the mound in July 1972 and helped Detroit win the AL East. His comeback peaked in 1973, when he set a then-major-league record with 38 saves and posted a 1.44 ERA, earning The Sporting News' Comeback Player of the Year and Fireman of the Year honors along with the Hutch Award. He made his only All-Star team in 1974, setting an American League record with 17 relief wins. Hiller retired in 1980 with an 87-76 record, a 2.83 ERA and 1,036 strikeouts, and still holds the Tigers' club record for career games pitched.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 361 | 22 | 107 | 121 | 53 | 24 | 21 | 13 | 0 |
| SGC | 32 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 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.
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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 #307 card?
It is card #307 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Hiller of the Detroit Tigers.
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.