1970 Topps #12 John Hiller
About John Hiller
Hiller made 47 appearances in 1970, 42 of them in relief, and went 6-6 with a 3.03 ERA. On October 1, the last day of the season, he shut out Cleveland 1-0 on two hits and struck out 11, seven in a row, in a game that took 1 hour 41 minutes. His #12 is a first-series 1970 Topps card showing him with the Tigers.
John Hiller, a Toronto native who grew up playing hockey before turning to baseball, pitched 15 seasons for the Detroit Tigers (1965-1980), working mostly out of the bullpen with occasional spot starts. He broke in as a September call-up in 1965. A member of the 1968 World Series champion Tigers, he struck out the first six Cleveland batters of a game that August, a major league record at the time. In January 1971 he suffered a heart attack and underwent intestinal surgery, missing the entire 1971 season; he returned to the mound in July 1972 and helped Detroit win the AL East. His comeback peaked in 1973, when he set a then-major-league record with 38 saves and posted a 1.44 ERA, earning The Sporting News' Comeback Player of the Year and Fireman of the Year honors along with the Hutch Award. He made his only All-Star team in 1974, setting an American League record with 17 relief wins. Hiller retired in 1980 with an 87-76 record, a 2.83 ERA and 1,036 strikeouts, and still holds the Tigers' club record for career games pitched.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 182 | 9 | 42 | 83 | 31 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 11 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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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- #70 1969 American League Pitching Leaders
- #72 1969 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #95 Earl Wilson
- #98 Gates Brown
- #129 Jimmie Price
- #152 Ike Brown
- #177 Jim Northrup
- #207 Tigers 1970 Rookie Stars
- #269 Cesar Gutierrez
- #313 Mayo Smith
- #335 Bill Freehan
- #356 Fred Lasher
- #383 Mickey Stanley
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1970 Topps #12 card?
It is card #12 of the 720-card 1970 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Hiller 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.