1969 Topps #278 Gary Geiger
About Gary Geiger
Card #278 is Geiger's only 1969 card, a series-3 issue that lists him with Houston after a year away from the majors. Atlanta had sent him a 1968 contract carrying the maximum 25 percent pay cut; he asked them to reconsider, heard nothing, and was put on waivers two weeks before spring training. He spent 1968 as a player-coach for the Cardinals at Tulsa, hitting .286 with 14 home runs and pitching in three games, before Houston took him in that winter's Rule 5 draft.
Gary Merle Geiger grew up in the farm country around Sand Ridge, Illinois, and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as a pitcher two days after his 1954 high school graduation, for the largest bonus a club could pay a player it did not put straight on its major-league roster. The Cardinals turned him into a left-handed-hitting outfielder, then left him unprotected, and Cleveland took him in the December 1957 Rule 5 draft; he debuted on Opening Day 1958. A year later he went to Boston in the trade that sent Jimmy Piersall to Cleveland, and he became the Red Sox center fielder, leading the club with 18 home runs in 1961. Injury kept interrupting him: a pitch that collapsed a lung in 1960, a wall collision in 1962, ulcer surgery that briefly ended his career in 1964, and a broken hand in 1965. He spent two part-time seasons with Atlanta and closed out in Houston, finishing twelve seasons at .246 with 77 home runs and 283 RBIs. He later managed in the Cardinals farm system and died in 1996 at 59.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · SABR Games Project · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 197 | 3 | 38 | 107 | 31 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1969 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
More Houston Astros cards:
- #35 Joe Morgan
- #58 Fred Gladding
- #76 Norm Miller
- #96 Denver Lemaster
- #119 Doug Rader
- #156 Astros 1969 Rookie Stars
- #186 John Edwards
- #202 Don Wilson
- #208 Donn Clendenon
- #257 Jim Ray
- #308 Wade Blasingame
- #337 Marty Martinez
- #360 Jim Wynn
- #389 Dan Coombs
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #278 card?
It is card #278 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Gary Geiger of the Houston Astros.
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.