1969 Topps #186 John Edwards
About John Edwards
His first Astros card, #186 in the second series, carries one season in St. Louis: .239 in 85 games, 52 of them starts, as Tim McCarver's backup on the 1968 National League champions. Edwards caught Ray Washburn's no-hitter at San Francisco on September 18, a day after Gaylord Perry no-hit the Cardinals, then struck out as a pinch-hitter in Game Six of the World Series for his only appearance in it. St. Louis traded him to Houston that October 11 for Dave Giusti and Dave Adlesh.
John Alban Edwards, a 6-foot-4 catcher out of Ohio State University, signed with the Cincinnati Reds in 1959 on a $50,000 contract his twin brother negotiated, and reached the majors in June 1961 after the Reds traded catcher Ed Bailey to San Francisco. Over a 14-year career with the Reds (1961-1967), St. Louis Cardinals (1968) and Houston Astros (1969-1974) he made three straight All-Star teams (1963-1965) and won National League Gold Gloves at catcher in 1963 and 1964, the first two any Cincinnati backstop had won. Prized for his glove and throwing arm, he caught Jim Maloney's 10-inning no-hitter in August 1965 and Ray Washburn's in September 1968, and led National League catchers in fielding percentage three straight years with Houston. His 1,135 putouts in 1969 were the most any catcher had ever made in a season, a record that stood for decades. Edwards finished with 1,106 hits, 81 home runs and a .242 average in 1,470 games, then worked as an engineer and plant manager in Houston's oil-services industry until retiring in 2002.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 266 | 1 | 44 | 158 | 38 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 1 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 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.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #186 card?
It is card #186 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Edwards 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.