1968 Topps #399 Ray Oyler
About Ray Oyler
Oyler started at shortstop on Detroit's world championship club, drawing boos from fans impatient with his light bat even as he hit .135. As fourth outfielder Mickey Stanley's bat heated up, the Tigers began exploring a positional switch, and Mayo Smith ultimately started Stanley at shortstop for all seven World Series games against St. Louis so his four outfielders could all be in the lineup. This 1968 Topps card is a print series 5 issue.
Ray Oyler made his name with his glove, not his bat. A Marine veteran out of Indianapolis, he signed with Detroit in 1960 and spent five seasons climbing the farm system before sticking as the Tigers' shortstop in the mid-1960s. Managers and teammates raved about his range and hands - Dick McAuliffe called him the best shortstop he ever played with - but his bat never caught up, and his .175 career average is the lowest on record for any player with over 1,000 at-bats since the deadball era. Oyler's defense held down short for Detroit's pennant contenders of 1967 and the 1968 World Series champions, even as manager Mayo Smith ultimately benched him for the Series to get Mickey Stanley's bat into the lineup at short. Drafted by the expansion Seattle Pilots in 1969, he closed his career in 1970 with the California Angels. He died in 1981 at age 42.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 407 | 16 | 94 | 183 | 57 | 27 | 20 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 18 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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 #399 card?
It is card #399 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ray Oyler of the Detroit Tigers.
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.