1968 Topps #7 National League 1967 ERA Leaders - Phil Niekro / Jim Bunning / Chris Short
On this card: Phil Niekro, Jim Bunning, Chris Short
About this card
Cards #1-12 are the League Leaders subset: twelve horizontal cards, each listing the top three or four finishers in one 1967 statistical category, the National League card first and the American League card second in each pair.
The story on this card
Card #7 in the 1968 Topps set is the National League ERA Leaders subset, spotlighting the pitchers with the league's lowest earned run averages in 1967. Phil Niekro of the Atlanta Braves led at 1.87, his knuckleball carrying him to an 11-9 record in a season that began in the bullpen before he earned a rotation spot. Jim Bunning of the Philadelphia Phillies followed at 2.29, a career-best mark, going 17-15 while leading the NL in shutouts, games started, and innings pitched. Chris Short, Bunning's Phillies rotation mate, rounded out the trio at 2.39 in a season shortened by a knee injury. The card credits Niekro to Atlanta and Bunning and Short to Philadelphia, in the set's first print series.
Phil Niekro, Knucksie, rode a knuckleball through 24 seasons to 318 wins, a 3.35 ERA, five All-Star teams and five Gold Gloves, nearly all of it with the Braves; the only knuckleballer to reach 300 wins, he entered the Hall of Fame in 1997. Jim Bunning was a hard-throwing right-hander who threw no-hitters in both leagues, including a 1964 perfect game for the Phillies, and later served as a US Senator from Kentucky. Chris Short - a hard-throwing Phillies left-hander whose fastball and knack for big strikeout totals made him one of the National League's top starters through the mid-1960s, twice an All-Star.
Sources: Wikipedia (Phil Niekro) · Wikipedia (Jim Bunning) · Wikipedia (Chris Short) · SABR BioProject (Phil Niekro) · SABR BioProject (Jim Bunning) · SABR BioProject (Chris Short) · Baseball Almanac (Jim Bunning)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 558 | 5 | 49 | 186 | 102 | 87 | 58 | 69 | 2 |
| SGC | 70 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 20 | 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 cards: #221 Atlanta Braves, #477 Philadelphia Phillies
More Atlanta Braves cards:
- #3 National League 1967 RBI Leaders
- #5 National League 1967 Home Run Leaders
- #30 Joe Torre
- #55 Felipe Alou
- #76 Braves 1968 Rookie Stars
- #93 Tony Cloninger
More Philadelphia Phillies cards:
- #1 National League 1967 Batting Leaders
- #9 National League 1967 Pitching Leaders
- #11 National League 1967 Strikeout Leaders
- #17 Dick Hall
- #39 Cookie Rojas
- #59 Don Lock
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #7 card?
It is card #7 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Phil Niekro, Jim Bunning and Chris Short. Cards #1-12 are the League Leaders subset: twelve horizontal cards, each listing the top three or four finishers in one 1967 statistical category, the National League card first and the American League card second in each pair.
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.