1968 Topps #45 Tom Seaver
Second-year card with the Topps All-Star Rookie trophy, tagged as a double print by the hobby catalogs. A look-alike from the 1968 Milton Bradley Win-A-Card game has a yellow-tinged back.
About Tom Seaver
1968 Topps #45 is Seaver's second-year card, and a first-series card. Hobby catalogs tag it as a double print, and it carries the Topps All-Star Rookie trophy for his 1967 selection. A look-alike from the 1968 Milton Bradley Win-A-Card game has a yellow-tinged back, so check the back before buying. He started Opening Day and went 16-12 with a 2.20 ERA and 205 strikeouts, the first of nine straight 200-strikeout seasons, as the Mets climbed to ninth place.
Tom Seaver, nicknamed "Tom Terrific" and "the Franchise," pitched 20 major-league seasons (1967-1986) for the Mets, Reds, White Sox and Red Sox. After Commissioner William Eckert voided his 1966 contract with the Atlanta Braves, the Mets won his signing rights in a lottery over the Phillies and Indians, and he broke in with a 16-13, 2.76 ERA season that made him the first Met to win the NL Rookie of the Year award. He went 25-7 for the 1969 Miracle Mets, who won the franchise's first World Series, and took the first of three NL Cy Young Awards (1969, 1973, 1975). A twelve-time All-Star, he won three ERA titles as a Met, struck out a record 10 straight Padres to close a 19-strikeout game in 1970, and topped 200 strikeouts in nine straight seasons. In June 1977 the Mets traded him to Cincinnati in what New York reporters called the Midnight Massacre; after five one-hitters as a Met, he threw his only no-hitter for the Reds in 1978. He came back to the Mets in 1983, won his 300th game for the White Sox in 1985, and finished with 311 wins and 3,640 strikeouts. In 1992 the baseball writers elected him to the Hall of Fame with 98.84 percent of the vote, then the highest ever.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 8,543 | 3 | 150 | 871 | 1,212 | 1,586 | 1,453 | 3,247 | 21 |
| SGC | 3,125 | 0 | 10 | 126 | 325 | 503 | 658 | 1,459 | 44 |
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: #401 New York Mets
More New York Mets cards:
- #27 Gil Hodges
- #63 Dick Kenworthy
- #92 Ed Kranepool
- #114 Ron Swoboda
- #132 Bud Harrelson
- #177 Mets 1968 Rookie Stars
- #191 Dan Frisella
- #211 J.C. Martin
- #236 Tug McGraw
- #254 Cleon Jones
- #277 Jerry Buchek
- #292 Art Shamsky
- #313 Al Weis
- #345 Bob Hendley
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #45 card?
It is card #45 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tom Seaver of the New York Mets.
Is #45 Tom Seaver's rookie card?
No. #45 is Seaver's second-year card, wearing the Topps All-Star Rookie trophy, and it is the one card in the set that two catalogs tag as a double print. A 1968 Milton Bradley game look-alike with a yellow-tinged back also exists.
What are the key cards in the 1968 Topps set?
#177 Mets Rookie Stars - the Nolan Ryan and Jerry Koosman rookie card - is the grail of the set, with #247 Reds Rookie Stars (the Johnny Bench rookie) and #280 Mickey Mantle beside it. #50 Willie Mays, #110 Hank Aaron, #150 Bob Clemente, #230 Pete Rose, #45 Tom Seaver and #80 Rod Carew (second-year cards wearing the All-Star Rookie trophy), the #480 Manager's Dream combo of Tony Oliva, Chico Cardenas and Bob Clemente, and the #490 Super Stars combo of Killebrew, Mays and Mantle round out the major cards; #250 Carl Yastrzemski (his solo card the year after his 1967 Triple Crown) and #330 Roger Maris (his last Topps card as an active player) are star cards. Scarcity is mild: the sixth and seventh series (#458-598) carry only a modest premium.
Is 1968 Topps #45 a scarce card?
It is a double print card. Hobby catalogs tag #45 Tom Seaver as a double print - a card printed twice on the sheet - and tag no other 1968 card that way.
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.