1968 Topps #480 Manager's Dream - Tony Oliva / Chico Cardenas / Bob Clemente
On this card: Tony Oliva, Chico Cardenas, Bob Clemente
About this card
This is one of the three combo cards in the 1968 Topps set - #480 Manager's Dream (Oliva, Cardenas and Clemente), #490 Super Stars (Killebrew, Mays and Mantle) and #530 Bird Belters (Frank and Brooks Robinson) - each pairing stars under a headline rather than giving one man his own card.
The story on this card
Topps called this three-man card Manager's Dream, and the lineup explains the name: two batting champions and a Gold Glove shortstop, each from a different club. Tony Oliva of the Minnesota Twins had won American League batting titles in 1964 and 1965. Chico Cardenas of the Cincinnati Reds was an All-Star shortstop who took the 1965 Gold Glove. Bob Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates, named with the "Bob" his cards carried through 1969, already owned four National League batting crowns. All three reached the majors from the Caribbean, Oliva and Cardenas from Cuba and Clemente from Puerto Rico. Card 480 sits in Topps' sixth series.
Tony Oliva - Minnesota's smooth-swinging Cuban right fielder, the 1964 American League Rookie of the Year and a three-time batting champion who made the All-Star team in each of his first eight full seasons before knee injuries took over; Cooperstown called in December 2021. Cincinnati's shortstop through the 1960s and a five-time All-Star, Leo Chico Cardenas won the 1965 National League Gold Glove, earned the nickname Mr. Automatic for his fielding, and later anchored Minnesota's infield. Pittsburgh's right fielder for eighteen seasons, Roberto Clemente won four National League batting titles and twelve straight Gold Gloves, was the 1966 NL Most Valuable Player and the 1971 World Series MVP, and died flying earthquake relief in 1972.
Sources: Wikipedia (Tony Oliva) · Wikipedia (Roberto Clemente) · Wikipedia (Leo Cardenas) · SABR BioProject · National Baseball Hall of Fame · SABR (1) · SABR (2) · Baseball Almanac (Chico Cardenas) · Baseball Almanac (Bob Clemente) · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 2,904 | 28 | 261 | 612 | 523 | 459 | 383 | 635 | 3 |
| SGC | 801 | 3 | 26 | 72 | 113 | 140 | 177 | 262 | 8 |
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 cards: #137 Minnesota Twins, #574 Cincinnati Reds, #308 Pittsburgh Pirates
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #4 American League 1967 RBI Leaders
- #6 American League 1967 Home Run Leaders
- #10 American League 1967 Pitching Leaders
- #12 American League 1967 Strikeout Leaders
- #28 Ted Uhlaender
- #44 Frank Kostro
More Cincinnati Reds cards:
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #1 National League 1967 Batting Leaders
- #3 National League 1967 RBI Leaders
- #19 Juan Pizarro
- #36 Pirates 1968 Rookie Stars
- #53 Gene Alley
- #70 Bob Veale
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #480 card?
It is card #480 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tony Oliva, Chico Cardenas and Bob Clemente. This is one of the three combo cards in the 1968 Topps set - #480 Manager's Dream (Oliva, Cardenas and Clemente), #490 Super Stars (Killebrew, Mays and Mantle) and #530 Bird Belters (Frank and Brooks Robinson) - each pairing stars under a headline rather than giving one man his own card.
What are the key cards in the 1968 Topps set?
#177 Mets Rookie Stars - the Nolan Ryan and Jerry Koosman rookie card - is the grail of the set, with #247 Reds Rookie Stars (the Johnny Bench rookie) and #280 Mickey Mantle beside it. #50 Willie Mays, #110 Hank Aaron, #150 Bob Clemente, #230 Pete Rose, #45 Tom Seaver and #80 Rod Carew (second-year cards wearing the All-Star Rookie trophy), the #480 Manager's Dream combo of Tony Oliva, Chico Cardenas and Bob Clemente, and the #490 Super Stars combo of Killebrew, Mays and Mantle round out the major cards; #250 Carl Yastrzemski (his solo card the year after his 1967 Triple Crown) and #330 Roger Maris (his last Topps card as an active player) are star cards. Scarcity is mild: the sixth and seventh series (#458-598) carry only a modest premium.
Is 1968 Topps #480 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.