1968 Topps #97 Tom Phoebus
About Tom Phoebus
Coming off his rookie year, Phoebus set career highs across the board in 1968: a 15-15 record, 36 starts, 240 2/3 innings, 193 strikeouts and a 2.62 ERA. On April 27 he no-hit the defending American League champion Red Sox at Memorial Stadium, 6-0, with Mark Belanger and Brooks Robinson turning key defensive plays behind him. The Orioles finished second to Detroit as Earl Weaver took over as manager midseason. This card, #97 in the set's first print series, is not a high number and, coming the year after his rookie card, is not itself a rookie card.
Tom Phoebus was a right-handed pitcher who spent seven seasons in the majors, 1966 to 1972, most of them with his hometown Baltimore Orioles. A Baltimore native who signed with the Orioles for a $10,000 bonus after high school, he debuted in September 1966 by throwing shutouts in each of his first two starts, becoming just the fourth American League pitcher to do so. He anchored the Orioles rotation the next three years, throwing a no-hitter against the Red Sox on April 27, 1968, and winning Game Two of the 1970 World Series in relief as Baltimore beat Cincinnati. Traded to San Diego after the 1970 season, he closed his career with the Padres and Chicago Cubs in 1972. He finished 56-52 with a 3.33 ERA and 725 strikeouts over 1,030 innings, then taught grade-school physical education in Florida. He died in 2019 at age 77.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 357 | 19 | 112 | 168 | 35 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 18 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 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: #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
- #118 Mark Belanger
- #135 Paul Blair
- #163 Gene Brabender
- #186 Eddie Watt
- #194 Don Buford
- #204 Andy Etchebarren
- #222 Jim Hardin
- #242 Moe Drabowsky
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #97 card?
It is card #97 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tom Phoebus 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.