1968 Topps #565 Larry Dierker
About Larry Dierker
Dierker started Houston's 1968 Opening Day and worked 233.2 innings, going 12-15 with a 3.31 ERA, 161 strikeouts and 10 complete games in 32 starts. His 1968 Topps card, #565, sits in the high-number seventh series, part of the #458-598 block that carries a modest premium.
Lawrence Edward Dierker signed with the Houston Colt .45s at 17, beating out a bidding war with other clubs, and struck out Willie Mays in his major-league debut on his 18th birthday in 1964. A right-hander with a long, durable frame, he anchored the Houston rotation through the late 1960s and 1970s, twice making the National League All-Star team, in 1969 and 1971. His finest season came in 1969, when he became the club's first 20-game winner with a 2.33 ERA and 20 complete games. On July 9, 1976 he no-hit the Montreal Expos at the Astrodome. Shoulder and rotator-cuff trouble shortened several later seasons before Houston traded him to St. Louis, where he pitched his final season in 1977. He finished with 139 career wins over 14 seasons and was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. Dierker later spent decades as an Astros broadcaster and, from 1997 to 2001, managed the club to four NL Central division titles in five years.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 349 | 7 | 89 | 193 | 40 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 14 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 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 #565 card?
It is card #565 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Larry Dierker of the Houston Astros.
Is 1968 Topps #565 a scarce card?
It is a high number card from the seventh print series, #534-598, by the checklist-card division. The last two series together (#458-598) carry only a modest premium; no short-print list exists.
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.