1969 Topps #9 American League 1968 Pitching Leaders - Denny McLain / Dave McNally / Luis Tiant / Mel Stottlemyre
On this card: Denny McLain, Dave McNally, Luis Tiant, Mel Stottlemyre
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 #9 in the 1969 Topps set recaps the AL Pitching Leaders from the 1968 season, remembered as the Year of the Pitcher. Denny McLain of the Tigers topped the board at 31-6 with a 1.96 ERA, the majors' last 30-game winner and that year's AL MVP and Cy Young winner. Dave McNally of the Orioles is shown after a 22-10, 1.95 ERA season that earned him AL Comeback Player of the Year. Luis Tiant of the Indians led the league in ERA at 1.60 with a 21-9 record and nine shutouts, four of them consecutive. Mel Stottlemyre of the Yankees rounds out the group after a 21-12, 2.45 ERA year, the most wins of his career. The four aces, from Detroit, Baltimore, Cleveland and New York, headline a card built around a single low-offense season.
Denny McLain - Detroit's outspoken right-handed ace, who went 31-6 with a 1.96 ERA in 1968 to become the last 30-game winner in the majors, sweeping the American League Cy Young Award and the MVP. 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. 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. Mel Stottlemyre - Yankees sinkerballer from 1964 to 1974 and the one steady arm through the franchise's lean years: three 20-win seasons, five All-Star selections, 40 shutouts, then 23 seasons as a big-league pitching coach with five World Series rings.
Sources: Wikipedia (Denny McLain) · Wikipedia (Dave McNally) · Wikipedia (Luis Tiant) · Wikipedia (Mel Stottlemyre) · SABR BioProject (Dave Mcnally) · SABR BioProject (Mel Stottlemyre) · Baseball Almanac (Dave McNally)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 594 | 4 | 147 | 240 | 95 | 34 | 31 | 41 | 2 |
| SGC | 35 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 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 Detroit Tigers cards:
- #3 American League 1968 RBI Leaders
- #5 American League 1968 Home Run Leaders
- #11 American League 1968 Strikeout Leaders
- #13 Mickey Stanley
- #40 Mayo Smith
- #80 Norm Cash
More Baltimore Orioles cards:
- #7 American League 1968 ERA Leaders
- #15 Boog Powell
- #37 Curt Motton
- #66 Orioles 1969 Rookie Stars
- #86 Pete Richert
- #113 Dave May
More Cleveland Indians cards:
- #7 American League 1968 ERA Leaders
- #11 American League 1968 Strikeout Leaders
- #19 Ken Suarez
- #61 Jimmie Hall
- #91 Al Dark
- #118 Stan Williams
More New York Yankees cards:
- #25 Roy White
- #46 Fritz Peterson
- #69 Steve Hamilton
- #87 Horace Clarke
- #114 Yankees 1969 Rookie Stars
- #191 Lindy McDaniel
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #9 card?
It is card #9 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Denny McLain, Dave McNally, Luis Tiant and Mel Stottlemyre. 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).
Why does #9 list four pitchers?
Denny McLain won 31 games in 1968 and Dave McNally was second with 22; Luis Tiant and Mel Stottlemyre tied for third with 21 each, so this card names four pitchers where the other leaders cards name three.
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.