1974 Topps #42 Claude Osteen
About Claude Osteen
Card #42 in the 1974 Topps set shows Osteen with the Dodgers, though on December 6, 1973, Los Angeles sent him and David Culpepper to Houston for Jimmy Wynn. He had gone 16-11 with a 3.31 ERA that season. He made 33 starts, completing 12 of them with 3 shutouts, and it was his tenth straight season with double-figure wins.
Claude Wilson Osteen was born August 9, 1939, in Caney Springs, Tennessee, the son of a country-store owner who pitched for an amateur team. He starred at Reading High School outside Cincinnati, going 23-1 in his prep career with a 16-0 senior season for the 1957 state champions. He signed with the Cincinnati Redlegs straight out of school and reached the majors at seventeen without a day in the minors first. The seasoning came afterward, at Wenatchee, Seattle and Indianapolis, since the Reds never gave him a season-long chance to start. In September 1961 the Reds traded him to the Washington Senators for pitcher Dave Sisler, and Washington gave him the rotation spot he wanted, though on a consistently sub-.500 club. In December 1964 the Senators traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the deal that brought Frank Howard, Ken McMullen and Pete Richert to Washington. Over nine Dodgers seasons alongside Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale he became a three-time All-Star, a 20-game winner twice, and the man who turned the 1965 World Series. He finished with Houston, St. Louis and the Chicago White Sox at 196-195 with a 3.30 ERA over 18 seasons, then coached big-league pitchers for decades. He is a member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · National Baseball Hall of Fame · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 202 | 3 | 57 | 121 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 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.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1974 Topps #42 card?
It is card #42 of the 660-card 1974 Topps Baseball set, picturing Claude Osteen of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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.