1974 Topps #389 Gates Brown
About Gates Brown
Gates Brown hit .236 for Detroit in 1973, with 12 home runs and 50 RBI. Card #389 in the 1974 Topps set shows him with the Tigers; in 1974 he led the American League in pinch hits for the second time, after 1968.
Gates Brown, born William James Brown, spent his entire thirteen-season career (1963-1975) with the Detroit Tigers. He was convicted of burglary at eighteen and served time at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield. A prison coach there spotted his hitting and helped connect him to Tigers scouts Frank Skaff and Pat Mullin, who signed him for a $7,000 bonus. He debuted on June 19, 1963, hitting a pinch-hit home run at Fenway Park in his first major-league at-bat, the third player in American League history to do so. Playing left field for Detroit, Brown became a pinch-hitting specialist, retiring with American League career records of 107 pinch hits, 414 pinch-hit at-bats and 16 pinch-hit home runs. His 1968 season, a .370 average with six home runs, helped the Tigers win the World Series. He later served as Detroit's hitting coach from 1978 through 1984. His mother gave him the nickname Gates as a toddler, and he thought it might have something to do with the way he walked.
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 | 152 | 6 | 64 | 58 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 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 #389 card?
It is card #389 of the 660-card 1974 Topps Baseball set, picturing Gates Brown of the Detroit Tigers.
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.