1969 Topps #86 Pete Richert
About Pete Richert
The 109-win Orioles took the first American League East title and swept Minnesota in the Championship Series, with Richert a busy left-handed piece of the bullpen: 7-4, 12 saves, a 2.20 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 44 games. Then came Game 4 at Shea Stadium. Relieving Dick Hall in the tenth of a 1-1 game, Richert fielded J.C. Martin's bunt and hit the runner in the wrist with his throw; the ball skittered away and Rod Gaspar scored from second. Replays showed Martin running inside the baseline. The Mets went up three games to one and closed out the upset the next day. Card #86 is a first-series issue.
Peter Gerard Richert, born October 29, 1939 in Floral Park, New York, was a hard-throwing left-handed pitcher who spent thirteen seasons in the majors with the Dodgers, Senators, Orioles, Cardinals and Phillies. A Sewanhaka High School product off Long Island who signed for a $2,000 bonus, he announced himself on April 12, 1962 by striking out the first six batters he faced in relief for Los Angeles, a major league record, and he remains the only pitcher to strike out four men in one inning in his debut. He was a two-time All-Star as a Washington starter in 1965 and 1966 before Baltimore moved him to the bullpen, where he pitched for three straight pennant winners from 1969 through 1971 and earned a ring with the 1970 champions; he collected another in 1963 with the Dodgers without throwing a pitch in that Series. Richert finished 80-73 with a 3.19 ERA and 925 strikeouts, retiring after a blood clot in his pitching arm surfaced late in the 1974 season.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Retrosheet
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 201 | 1 | 27 | 121 | 35 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 9 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 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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Related cards
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- #9 American League 1968 Pitching Leaders
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- #66 Orioles 1969 Rookie Stars
- #113 Dave May
- #141 Bill Dillman
- #151 Clay Dalrymple
- #185 Tom Phoebus
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- #228 Dave Leonhard
- #250 Frank Robinson
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #86 card?
It is card #86 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Pete Richert of the Baltimore Orioles.
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.