1969 Topps #7 American League 1968 ERA Leaders - Luis Tiant / Sam McDowell / Dave McNally
On this card: Luis Tiant, Sam McDowell, Dave McNally
About this card
Cards #1-12 are the League Leaders subset: six categories from the 1968 season - batting average, RBI, home runs, ERA, pitching (wins) and strikeouts - with the American League card first and the National League card second in each pair, and the top three men on each card (#9 names four, after a tie for third in American League wins).
The story on this card
Card 7 is the AL ERA Leaders board from the 1969 Topps set, part of the League Leaders subset that opens the print run. It recaps 1968, when the American League produced two of the stingiest seasons of the decade: Luis Tiant of the Cleveland Indians topped the league at 1.60, and Sam McDowell, his own rotation mate in Cleveland, was right behind at 1.81. Dave McNally of the Baltimore Orioles rounds out the trio at 1.95, capping a season in which he won 22 games and captured the Comeback Player of the Year award. All three pitchers are pictured together, each identified with his club, giving the card a rare joint appearance of three staff aces from two different franchises on a single sheet built entirely around the ERA race.
Luis Tiant - a Cuban-born right-hander kept from his parents for 14 years by Castro's revolution, he rebuilt his delivery after a fractured shoulder blade, won 229 games over 19 seasons and beat Cincinnati twice in the 1975 World Series. Sam McDowell, 'Sudden Sam,' was a hard-throwing Cleveland Indians left-hander and six-time All-Star who led the American League in strikeouts five times, capping it with a 20-win, 304-strikeout 1970 that made him The Sporting News AL Pitcher of the Year. Dave McNally was Baltimore's durable left-hander, a three-time All-Star who won 20 games in four straight seasons from 1968 through 1971, shut out the Dodgers to clinch the 1966 World Series, and lent his name to the 1975 ruling that broke the reserve clause.
Sources: Wikipedia (Luis Tiant) · Wikipedia (Sam McDowell) · Wikipedia (Dave McNally) · SABR BioProject (Sam Mcdowell) · SABR BioProject (Dave Mcnally) · Baseball Almanac (Sam McDowell) · Baseball Almanac (Dave McNally)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 995 | 36 | 398 | 352 | 98 | 51 | 26 | 33 | 1 |
| SGC | 60 | 1 | 23 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 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.
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Related cards
More Cleveland Indians cards:
- #9 American League 1968 Pitching Leaders
- #11 American League 1968 Strikeout Leaders
- #19 Ken Suarez
- #61 Jimmie Hall
- #91 Al Dark
- #118 Stan Williams
More Baltimore Orioles cards:
- #9 American League 1968 Pitching Leaders
- #15 Boog Powell
- #37 Curt Motton
- #66 Orioles 1969 Rookie Stars
- #86 Pete Richert
- #113 Dave May
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #7 card?
It is card #7 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Luis Tiant, Sam McDowell and Dave McNally. Cards #1-12 are the League Leaders subset: six categories from the 1968 season - batting average, RBI, home runs, ERA, pitching (wins) and strikeouts - with the American League card first and the National League card second in each pair, and the top three men on each card (#9 names four, after a tie for third in American League wins).
How many cards are in the 1969 Topps Baseball set?
664 cards, tracked as 696 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 664 with none skipped and no printed number shared by two cards; 32 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately, 23 of them the yellow- and white-letter name pairs of #440-511.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, Baseball Almanac, 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.