1968 Topps #354 Pete Richert
About Pete Richert
Hank Bauer, who had been impressed by what Richert did to Baltimore lineups as a Senator, made him a full-time reliever in 1968, and it took. Working strictly out of the bullpen, with no starts at all, he went 6-3 with six saves, a 3.47 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings, four of those wins packed into nine days beginning August 5. Bauer himself was replaced by Earl Weaver right after the All-Star break, and the Orioles finished second, twelve games behind Detroit. Card #354 is a fourth-series issue and the first of his 1960s Topps cards to show him with Baltimore.
Peter Gerard Richert, born October 29, 1939 in Floral Park, New York, was a hard-throwing left-handed pitcher who spent thirteen seasons in the majors with the Dodgers, Senators, Orioles, Cardinals and Phillies. A Sewanhaka High School product off Long Island who signed for a $2,000 bonus, he announced himself on April 12, 1962 by striking out the first six batters he faced in relief for Los Angeles, a major league record, and he remains the only pitcher to strike out four men in one inning in his debut. He was a two-time All-Star as a Washington starter in 1965 and 1966 before Baltimore moved him to the bullpen, where he pitched for three straight pennant winners from 1969 through 1971 and earned a ring with the 1970 champions; he collected another in 1963 with the Dodgers without throwing a pitch in that Series. Richert finished 80-73 with a 3.19 ERA and 925 strikeouts, retiring after a blood clot in his pitching arm surfaced late in the 1974 season.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Retrosheet
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 420 | 21 | 134 | 184 | 56 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 21 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 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.
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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
- #118 Mark Belanger
- #135 Paul Blair
- #163 Gene Brabender
- #186 Eddie Watt
- #194 Don Buford
- #204 Andy Etchebarren
- #222 Jim Hardin
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #354 card?
It is card #354 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Pete Richert 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.