1969 Topps #433 Denny McLain
About this card
Cards #416-435 are the twenty Sporting News All-Stars, ten from each league - a catcher, the four infielders, three outfielders and two pitchers - with the National and American League picks alternating from #416; the run straddles the fourth and fifth series, and the backs assemble into two puzzle photos.
About Denny McLain
McLain went 24-9 in 1969 over 325 innings with 23 complete games and nine shutouts. The Cy Young vote came back a tie with Mike Cuellar, the first time two pitchers shared the award. Named the AL All-Star starter in Washington, he kept a Detroit dental appointment instead, flew himself in, arriving in the second inning. Four cards: first-series League Leaders #9 with Dave McNally, Luis Tiant and Mel Stottlemyre and #11 with Sam McDowell and Tiant, #150 in the second series, and Sporting News All-Star #433 in the fifth.
Dennis Dale McLain signed with the Chicago White Sox out of Mt. Carmel High School in Chicago in 1962, only for the Detroit Tigers to claim him on waivers the following April. He reached Detroit on September 21, 1963 at the age of 19 and homered in his major-league debut, the only home run he would ever hit. He became a workhorse right-hander through the mid-1960s, leaning on a heavy fastball that also made him easy to take deep; he led the American League in home runs allowed three straight years. His signature season came in 1968, when he went 31-6 with a 1.96 ERA to become the last pitcher to win 30 games in a season, taking both the American League Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player honors as Detroit won the World Series. A second straight Cy Young followed in 1969, shared with Baltimore's Mike Cuellar. McLain was a three-time All-Star, in 1966, 1968 and 1969. Suspensions, gambling troubles and a worn-out arm then undid him: traded to the Washington Senators in October 1970, he lost 22 games in 1971 and finished with Oakland and Atlanta in 1972, out of baseball by 1973. He retired 131-91 with a 3.39 ERA and 1,282 strikeouts over ten seasons.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 350 | 3 | 36 | 161 | 74 | 45 | 14 | 16 | 1 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 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 Denny McLain in this set: #9 League Leaders, #11 League Leaders, #150
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #3 American League 1968 RBI Leaders
- #5 American League 1968 Home Run Leaders
- #9 American League 1968 Pitching Leaders
- #11 American League 1968 Strikeout Leaders
- #13 Mickey Stanley
- #40 Mayo Smith
- #80 Norm Cash
- #101 Daryl Patterson
- #126 Dick Tracewski
- #150 Denny McLain
- #163 World Series Game #2 - Tiger Homers Deck the Cards
- #166 World Series Game #5 - Kaline's Key Hit Sparks Tiger Rally
- #167 World Series Game #6 - Tiger 10-Run Inning Ties Mark
- #168 World Series Game #7 - Lolich Series Hero Outduels Gibson
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #433 card?
It is card #433 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers. Cards #416-435 are the twenty Sporting News All-Stars, ten from each league - a catcher, the four infielders, three outfielders and two pitchers - with the National and American League picks alternating from #416; the run straddles the fourth and fifth series, and the backs assemble into two puzzle photos.
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.