1969 Topps #42 Tommy Harper
About Tommy Harper
Harper's lone 1969 card, #42 in the first series, catches expansion baseball at its most improvised: he wears a plain gray jersey and no cap, because the Pilots had not yet gathered when the photograph was taken. Cleveland had left him unprotected in the October 1968 expansion draft, and the back still carries his Indians line, a .217 average with 6 home runs, 26 RBI and 11 steals in 130 games. Manager Joe Schultz gave him the green light in Seattle, and he stole 73, still the Pilots/Brewers record.
Tommy Harper signed with Cincinnati in 1960, scouted by Bobby Mattick, and reached the majors in 1962 as a third baseman before moving to the outfield. Across 15 seasons (1962-1976) with the Reds, Indians, Pilots/Brewers, Red Sox, Angels, Athletics and Orioles he hit .257 with 1,609 hits, 146 home runs, 567 RBI and 408 stolen bases in 1,810 games. His signature season came in 1969, when he stole 73 bases for the expansion Seattle Pilots, the most by an American Leaguer since Ty Cobb's 96 in 1915. In 1970 with Milwaukee he became the fifth major leaguer to join the 30-30 club (31 home runs, 38 steals) and made his only All-Star team. He led the league again in 1973 with 54 steals, a Red Sox record that stood until 2009, and was voted the club's Most Valuable Player. Known as "Tailwind Tommy," he later coached for Boston and Montreal and entered the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2010. He is not a National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · National Baseball Hall of Fame · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 308 | 4 | 107 | 145 | 34 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 9 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 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
More Seattle Pilots cards:
- #17 Mike Marshall
- #62 Chico Salmon
- #83 Mike Ferraro
- #111 Johnny Morris
- #135 Tommy Davis
- #178 Ray Oyler
- #209 Larry Haney
- #233 Steve Barber
- #254 Joe Schultz
- #285 Don Mincher
- #301 Darrell Brandon
- #322 Jose Vidal
- #346 Wayne Comer
- #377 Gary Bell
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #42 card?
It is card #42 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tommy Harper of the Seattle Pilots.
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.