1969 Topps #492 Tony Cloninger
About Tony Cloninger
Card #492 is his first Topps card as a Cincinnati Red, a fifth-series issue printed after the June 11, 1968 deal that sent him, Clay Carroll and Woody Woodward to the Reds for Milt Pappas, Bob Johnson and Ted Davidson. The split season behind it adds up to 5-6 and a 4.08 ERA: 1-3 in eight games for an Atlanta club that had left him in the bullpen, then 4-3 for Cincinnati, where manager Dave Bristol kept handing him the ball until the work took. From July 21 on he went 4-1 with a 2.23 ERA, including his first shutout in more than two years, and the Reds protected him in that October's expansion draft.
Tony Lee Cloninger was a North Carolina fireballer who signed with the Milwaukee Braves in the spring of 1958 for a $100,000 bonus and reached the majors on June 15, 1961, two months shy of his 21st birthday. As Warren Spahn's career wound down, Cloninger took over as staff ace and led the Braves in wins three straight seasons, peaking in 1965 at 24-11 with a 3.29 ERA and 211 strikeouts. He could swing a bat, too: on July 3, 1966 he hit two grand slams and drove in nine runs in a 17-3 rout of the Giants, and he remains the only pitcher in major-league history to hit two slams in a game. A pulled shoulder muscle, an eye ailment and a sore elbow cost him most of 1967, and Atlanta traded him to Cincinnati in June 1968. He started Game Three of the 1970 World Series for the pennant-winning Reds, closed out his playing days with the Cardinals in 1972 at 113-97 with a 4.07 ERA over twelve seasons, then coached, winning four World Series rings in the New York Yankees bullpen. He was never elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame; the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame took him in 2004. Cloninger died on July 24, 2018.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 201 | 3 | 24 | 113 | 43 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 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
More Cincinnati Reds cards:
- #2 National League 1968 Batting Leaders
- #26 Clay Carroll
- #70 Tommy Helms
- #81 Mel Queen
- #95 Johnny Bench
- #120 Pete Rose
- #142 Woody Woodward
- #187 Leon Wagner
- #213 Gerry Arrigo
- #234 Dave Bristol
- #259 Bill Short
- #280 Alex Johnson
- #295 Tony Perez
- #318 Jack Fisher
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #492 card?
It is card #492 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tony Cloninger of the Cincinnati Reds.
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.