1968 Topps #544 Mayo Smith
About this card
This is one of the twenty manager cards in the 1968 Topps set, numbered among the regular cards rather than grouped as a subset.
About Mayo Smith
In 1968 Smith managed the Tigers to a 103-59 record, an AL pennant by 12 games, and a World Series win over the St. Louis Cardinals, a run built in part on his bold decision to shift Mickey Stanley to shortstop. He was named The Sporting News Manager of the Year. This 1968 Topps card, #544, is a high number from the seventh print series.
Mayo Smith spent nearly four decades in professional baseball as a player, manager and scout. An outfielder, he starred for years in the minors with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Bisons, winning the International League batting title in 1944, before a brief major league career with the 1945 Philadelphia Athletics. He turned to managing in the Yankees farm system, then led the Philadelphia Phillies from 1955 to 1958 and the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1959. After years as a Yankees advance scout, he took over the Detroit Tigers in 1967 and guided them to a pennant and the 1968 World Series championship over the St. Louis Cardinals, earning The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award. He remained Detroit's manager through 1970. He was nicknamed Catfish in high school after Georgia football All-American Vernon Catfish Smith, and later, as the Yankees' longtime advance man, was known around the game as America's Guest.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 512 | 19 | 100 | 261 | 70 | 40 | 11 | 11 | 0 |
| SGC | 43 | 0 | 12 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 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 #544 card?
It is card #544 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mayo Smith of the Detroit Tigers. This is one of the twenty manager cards in the 1968 Topps set, numbered among the regular cards rather than grouped as a subset.
Is 1968 Topps #544 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.