1969 Topps #8 National League 1968 ERA Leaders - Bob Gibson / Bobby Bolin / Bob Veale
On this card: Bob Gibson, Bobby Bolin, Bob Veale
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
This League Leaders card recaps the 1968 National League ERA race that opened the "Year of the Pitcher." Bob Gibson topped the league at 1.12, a live-ball-era record that helped carry the Cardinals to the World Series and earned him both the Cy Young and MVP awards. Bobby Bolin of the Giants was next at 1.99, splitting his season between starting and relief for a club that finished second in the NL. Bob Veale of the Pirates rounded out the trio at 2.05, the lowest ERA since 1914 by a pitcher with more than 20 starts and a losing record, as an elbow injury altered his motion and cut into his strikeout totals. The card lists each man's club beneath his name and photo, pairing the era's most dominant pitcher with two accomplished NL arms on the same three-man board.
Bob Gibson pitched all seventeen of his seasons for the Cardinals, a two-time Cy Young winner and two-time World Series Most Valuable Player whose 1.12 earned run average in 1968 still measures pitching dominance. Bob Bolin was a tall, sidearm right-hander who spent the 1960s shuttling between San Francisco's rotation and bullpen, posting the National League's second-best ERA in 1968 behind only Bob Gibson before closing out his career as a Red Sox reliever. Bob Veale was a towering, hard-throwing left-hander who terrorized National League hitters for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1960s, leading the league in strikeouts in 1964, making two All-Star teams, and helping Pittsburgh win the 1971 World Series.
Sources: Wikipedia (Bob Gibson) · Wikipedia (Bob Veale) · SABR BioProject (Bob Gibson) · SABR BioProject (Bobby Bolin) · SABR BioProject (Bob Veale) · Baseball Almanac (Bob Gibson) · Baseball Almanac (Bobby Bolin) · Baseball Almanac (Bob Veale)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 537 | 0 | 27 | 123 | 139 | 98 | 65 | 84 | 1 |
| SGC | 76 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 16 | 19 | 16 | 1 |
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 St. Louis Cardinals cards:
- #10 National League 1968 Pitching Leaders
- #12 National League 1968 Strikeout Leaders
- #18 Dick Schofield
- #39 Dick Hughes
- #60 Nelson Briles
- #85 Lou Brock
More San Francisco Giants cards:
- #4 National League 1968 RBI Leaders
- #6 National League 1968 Home Run Leaders
- #10 National League 1968 Pitching Leaders
- #16 Giants 1969 Rookie Stars
- #41 Bob Barton
- #64 Bill Monbouquette
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #2 National League 1968 Batting Leaders
- #36 Luke Walker
- #50 Bob Clemente
- #82 Pirates 1969 Rookie Stars
- #104 Steve Blass
- #131 Chris Cannizzaro
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #8 card?
It is card #8 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bob Gibson, Bobby Bolin and Bob Veale. 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.