1968 Topps #455 Rico Carty
About Rico Carty
Diagnosed with tuberculosis three weeks into spring training, Carty spent six months in treatment and missed the entire 1968 season, sidelined just as his career appeared to be peaking. Teammate Clete Boyer had criticized his effort that offseason, an echo of the friction with Hank Aaron the year before, but Carty returned to camp the following spring determined to prove himself again. His series-five card #455, a solo Atlanta Braves issue, was printed during that lost season, its checklist compiled without him having taken a single at-bat.
Rico Carty, a Dominican outfielder from San Pedro de Macoris, played fifteen big-league seasons (1963-1979) for the Braves, Rangers, Cubs, Athletics, Indians and Blue Jays, retiring with a .299 career average, 1,677 hits, 204 home runs and 890 RBI. Signed by Milwaukee out of the 1959 Pan American Games, he broke in with a 1964 rookie season and became a fixture in Atlanta's outfield after the franchise moved south. Carty won the 1970 National League batting title at .366, the majors' best mark since 1957, and was elected to that year's All-Star Game as the first write-in starter in major-league history. His career was repeatedly interrupted by injuries and a bout with tuberculosis that cost him the entire 1968 season, yet he returned to help Atlanta capture the 1969 NL West title, its first division crown. He is not a National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, though he was inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame's inaugural 1996 class.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 258 | 1 | 56 | 130 | 34 | 17 | 8 | 12 | 0 |
| SGC | 17 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 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: #221 Atlanta Braves
More Atlanta Braves cards:
- #3 National League 1967 RBI Leaders
- #5 National League 1967 Home Run Leaders
- #7 National League 1967 ERA Leaders
- #30 Joe Torre
- #55 Felipe Alou
- #76 Braves 1968 Rookie Stars
- #93 Tony Cloninger
- #110 Hank Aaron
- #134 Pat Jarvis
- #166 Claude Raymond
- #174 Bob Tillman
- #187 Sonny Jackson
- #203 Dick Kelley
- #241 Felix Millan
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #455 card?
It is card #455 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Rico Carty of the Atlanta Braves.
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.