1970 Topps #33 Don Wert
About Don Wert
Wert's last season as Detroit's regular third baseman, 1970, produced a .218 average, 6 home runs and 33 RBI. On July 9 he was caught up in an odd play when Dalton Jones lifted a bases-loaded fly into the upper deck. Jones passed Wert between first and second base, so what should have been a grand slam became a three-RBI single and Jones was called out. Wert's first-series card, #33, pictures him with the Tigers.
Don Wert was a right-handed third baseman who spent nine major league seasons, eight of them at Detroit's hot corner. Born in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, in 1938, he starred in three sports at Solanco High School. The Tigers signed him out of Lancaster County in 1958 for $5,000, and he climbed through Valdosta, Durham, Denver and Syracuse before debuting in Detroit in May 1963 at age 24. He took over as the Tigers' regular third baseman the next spring and held the job through 1970. He built his reputation on defense, and Detroit manager Charlie Dressen said he made all the plays that Brooks Robinson and Clete Boyer made. He was named to the American League All-Star team in 1968 and won a World Series ring with Detroit that October. The Tigers traded him to Washington in October 1970 in the eight-player deal that also sent Denny McLain east; the Senators released him in June 1971 and his playing career ended at 32. Wert finished with 929 hits, 77 home runs, 366 RBIs and a .242 average across 1,110 games, 1,043 of them at third base. He returned to eastern Pennsylvania to farm and to coach baseball part-time at Franklin and Marshall College, and died there in 2024 at 86.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 247 | 9 | 58 | 145 | 28 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-10-19. 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
Team card: #579 Detroit Tigers
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- #177 Jim Northrup
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- #269 Cesar Gutierrez
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1970 Topps #33 card?
It is card #33 of the 720-card 1970 Topps Baseball set, picturing Don Wert of the Detroit Tigers.
How many cards are in the 1970 Topps Baseball set?
720 cards, tracked as 726 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 720 with none skipped, issued in seven series - #1-132, #133-263, #264-372, #373-459, #460-546, #547-633 and the high numbers, #634-720; 6 cards, all of them checklists, carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, BaseballCardPedia, 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 2026-10-25.