1974 Topps #608 Rookie Pitchers - Bob Apodaca / Dick Baney / John D'Acquisto / Mike Wallace
On this card: Bob Apodaca, Dick Baney, John D'Acquisto, Mike Wallace
About this card
Cards #596-608 are the thirteen four-player Rookie Prospects cards, each titled by position. A Rookie Prospects card is a rookie card for the players on it who had no earlier Topps flagship card - on #601, #603, #604, #605 and #608 one of the four had already appeared on one, and the rookie-card answer on each card names the players it counts for.
The story on this card
Apodaca won a Mets bullpen job in 1974 and finished 6-6 with a 3.50 ERA and three saves in 35 games. His 1974 Topps #608 is a Rookie Prospects card shared with Dick Baney of the Reds, John D'Acquisto of the Giants and Mike Wallace of the Phillies. It is a rookie card for Apodaca, D'Acquisto and Wallace, and one printing misspells Apodaca's name as Apodaco. Bob Apodaca was a Mets reliever from 1973 to 1977, with a 1.49 ERA and 13 saves in 1975. A torn elbow ligament ended his career, and he spent decades as a pitching coach, including the Rockies' 2007 pennant team.
After a 2.93 ERA in 11 games for Cincinnati in 1973, Baney worked 22 games in 1974 with a 5.49 ERA and one save, the last major league season of his career. Topps listed him with the Reds, second of four players on Rookie Prospects card #608, shared with Bob Apodaca of the Mets, John D'Acquisto of the Giants and Mike Wallace of the Phillies. The card exists in two printings, one with Apodaca's name misspelled Apodaco. Right-handed reliever from Fullerton, California, who pitched for the 1969 Seattle Pilots and the 1973-74 Cincinnati Reds. He went 4-1 with a 4.28 ERA and three saves in 42 games, and was part of the June 1970 Dave May trade.
D'Acquisto made 36 starts in 38 games for the 1974 Giants, going 12-14 with a 3.77 ERA. He threw 215 innings and struck out 167. His card is #608, a four-player Rookie Prospects card with Bob Apodaca (Mets), Dick Baney (Reds) and Mike Wallace (Phillies). It is a rookie card for D'Acquisto, Apodaca and Wallace, and exists with Apodaca's name misspelled Apodaco. John D'Acquisto was a right-handed pitcher for the Giants, Cardinals, Padres, Expos, Angels and Athletics from 1973 to 1982, finishing 34-51 with a 4.56 ERA. National League Rookie Pitcher of the Year in 1974, he saved 10 games for San Diego in 1978.
Wallace debuted on June 27, 1973, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Mets, going the distance and allowing one run in a 7-1 Phillies win. He finished the year 1-1 with a 3.78 ERA in 20 games. His rookie card, #608, is a Rookie Prospects card with Bob Apodaca of the Mets, Dick Baney of the Reds and John D'Acquisto of the Giants; Apodaca and D'Acquisto have rookie cards there too. Apodaca's surname is misspelled "Apodaco" on the front of one printing. Mike Wallace was a left-handed pitcher who appeared for the Phillies, Yankees, Cardinals and Rangers from 1973 to 1977, going 11-3 with a 3.91 ERA in 117 games, and later became a baseball analyst for MASN covering the Nationals.
Sources: Wikipedia (Bob Apodaca) · Wikipedia (Dick Baney) · Wikipedia (John D'Acquisto) · Wikipedia (Mike Wallace) · BaseballCardPedia
Print variations
Two states of #608 are tracked individually: 608a - Apodaca (Corrected) and 608b - Apodaco (Misspelled). The difference is on the front of the card (spelling).
States catalogued by the PSA master set registry and the Trading Card Database; each is tracked here individually.
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Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 608a - Apodaca (Corrected) | |||||||||
| PSA | 198 | 7 | 64 | 100 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 608b - Apodaco (Misspelled) | |||||||||
| PSA | 240 | 4 | 94 | 103 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 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. Where a grader registers a variation separately its population is listed under that variation.
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Related cards
Team cards: #56 New York Mets, #459 Cincinnati Reds, #281 San Francisco Giants, #383 Philadelphia Phillies
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More Cincinnati Reds cards:
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- #78 Giants Field Leaders
- #104 Ron Bryant
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- #119 Phillies Field Leaders
- #131 Bob Boone
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1974 Topps #608 card?
It is card #608 of the 660-card 1974 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bob Apodaca, Dick Baney, John D'Acquisto and Mike Wallace. Cards #596-608 are the thirteen four-player Rookie Prospects cards, each titled by position. A Rookie Prospects card is a rookie card for the players on it who had no earlier Topps flagship card - on #601, #603, #604, #605 and #608 one of the four had already appeared on one, and the rookie-card answer on each card names the players it counts for.
Is 1974 Topps #608 a rookie card?
Yes - #608 is the rookie card of Bob Apodaca, John D'Acquisto and Mike Wallace. Dick Baney had already appeared on an earlier Topps card, so it is not his rookie card.
Does 1974 Topps #608 have variations?
Yes. Two states are catalogued and tracked individually: 608a - Apodaca (Corrected) (Bob Apodaca's name is spelled correctly on the front - the corrected state of the pair and the base state here) and 608b - Apodaco (Misspelled) (The front misspells Bob Apodaca as "Apodaco" - the error state, which Topps corrected). Owning any one of them fills the #608 slot; the master set counts each state.
How many cards are in the 1974 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, tracked as 678 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 660 with none skipped, issued all at once as a single series and printed in equal quantities; 17 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - fourteen San Diego / "Washington Nat'l Lea." pairs (thirteen Padres player cards and the #226 team card), the three-state #599 Rookie Pitchers, the #608 Apodaco misspelling and the #654 Jesus Alou front without a position.
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.