1968 Topps #118 Mark Belanger
This card also exists as a 1968 Milton Bradley Win-A-Card game look-alike, told apart by its yellow-tinged back.
About Mark Belanger
Card #118, an ordinary second-series card, not Belanger's rookie card, reports his 1967 season spent as Luis Aparicio's backup: 69 games, a .174 average and 10 RBI. The lone home run in that line came May 14 at Yankee Stadium off Mel Stottlemyre, in the same game Mickey Mantle hit his 500th. Aparicio was traded to the White Sox that November, handing Belanger the shortstop job. The same design was also distributed, with a yellow-tinged back, in the 1968 Milton Bradley Win-A-Card game.
Mark Henry Belanger, born June 8, 1944, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, signed with the Baltimore Orioles out of Pittsfield High School in 1962 for a reported $35,000 and reached the majors as a pinch-runner on August 7, 1965. He spent 18 seasons at shortstop, seventeen with Baltimore (1965-1981) and a farewell year with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1982, helping the Orioles win five pennants and the 1970 World Series. Nicknamed "The Blade" for his lean 6-foot-1, 170-pound frame, he won eight Gold Gloves (1969, 1971, 1973-1978) and made the 1976 All-Star team, retiring with a .977 fielding percentage; only he and Ozzie Smith finished above .975 while averaging more than five chances a game. His bat lagged far behind his glove: a .228 career average, third-lowest among players with 5,000 or more at-bats. He served as Baltimore's player representative and later a special assistant to the players' union. Elected to the Orioles Hall of Fame in 1983, he died of lung cancer on October 6, 1998, at age 54.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · National Baseball Hall of Fame · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 310 | 21 | 87 | 132 | 36 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 0 |
| SGC | 17 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 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.
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: #334 Baltimore Orioles
More Baltimore Orioles cards:
- #2 American League 1967 Batting Leaders
- #4 American League 1967 RBI Leaders
- #20 Brooks Robinson
- #42 Larry Haney
- #56 Orioles 1968 Rookie Stars
- #82 Sam Bowens
- #97 Tom Phoebus
- #135 Paul Blair
- #163 Gene Brabender
- #186 Eddie Watt
- #194 Don Buford
- #204 Andy Etchebarren
- #222 Jim Hardin
- #242 Moe Drabowsky
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #118 card?
It is card #118 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mark Belanger of the Baltimore Orioles.
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.