1968 Topps #571 Tony LaRussa
About Tony LaRussa
By 1968 the Athletics had moved to Oakland, and La Russa was back on their roster after most of six seasons in the minors. Topps placed him at #571, in the seventh series - a high number from the 1968 set. His rookie card came four years earlier. The playing time behind it was thin: five games and three at-bats in 1968, eight more games in 1969, then 52 games in 1970, mostly at second base. The man who would bring Oakland three straight pennants was a utility infielder here.
Tony La Russa signed with the Kansas City Athletics in June 1962 out of Jefferson High School in Tampa, on a deal that also paid for his schooling at the University of South Florida. As a bonus baby he had to be carried on the big-league roster, so he debuted on May 10, 1963 at 18; a shoulder hurt in an off-season pickup softball game held him to 34 games and bothered him for the rest of his playing days. Across six seasons with the Kansas City and Oakland Athletics, the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs between 1963 and 1973 he batted 176 times, hit .199 with no home runs and seven RBI, and spent most of the years in between in the minors while he finished his college degree. He retired as a player in 1977, added a law degree at Florida State, and found his real career in the dugout: 35 seasons managing the White Sox, Athletics and Cardinals, three World Series titles in 1989, 2006 and 2011, four Manager of the Year awards, and a career win total second only to Connie Mack's. The Veterans Committee elected him unanimously in 2013, and he was inducted at Cooperstown in 2014 as a manager.
Sources: Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 599 | 19 | 114 | 248 | 118 | 52 | 17 | 31 | 0 |
| SGC | 55 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 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: #554 Oakland Athletics
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- #109 Bert Campaneris
- #127 Paul Lindblad
- #146 Sal Bando
- #164 Ramon Webster
- #183 Bob Kennedy
- #199 A's 1968 Rookie Stars
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #571 card?
It is card #571 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tony LaRussa of the Oakland Athletics.
Is #571 Tony LaRussa a Hall of Famer?
Yes - through the Manager category. #571 is an early playing card of a man later elected to the Hall of Fame as a manager.
Is 1968 Topps #571 a scarce card?
It is a high number card from the seventh print series, #534-598, by the checklist-card division. The last two series together (#458-598) carry only a modest premium; no short-print list exists.
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.