1974 Topps #578 Ralph Houk
About this card
Managers have their own cards this year, separate from the 24 team cards: twenty Field Leaders cards picture a manager with two to four of his coaches, and #578 Ralph Houk of the Tigers is the one solo manager card. The Athletics, Yankees and Padres have a team card but no manager card. Eight Field Leaders cards include a Hall of Famer, among them the Dodgers' Walter Alston and Tom Lasorda (#144) and coaches Bill Mazeroski (#489) and Larry Doby (#531).
About Ralph Houk
After an 80-82 season with the Yankees in 1973, Houk signed a three-year, $225,000 contract to manage Detroit on October 11. His solo 1974 Topps manager card was #578. The Tigers finished 72-90 in his first season with the club.
Ralph Houk managed the Yankees, Tigers and Red Sox for 20 major league seasons, finishing with 1,619 wins and 1,531 losses. He led New York to three pennants and two World Series championships. He had signed with New York in 1938, but World War II interrupted his minor league career. His Army service brought a Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart; the rank he held at discharge supplied his baseball nickname, the Major. Houk spent 8 seasons as a Yankees catcher, batting .272 in 91 games from 1947 through 1954. He managed the Denver Bears from 1955 through 1957, winning the Junior World Series in his final season there, then returned to New York as Casey Stengel's first-base coach. His later front-office work included a role with Minnesota during its 1987 championship season.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 233 | 6 | 104 | 106 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 1 | 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.
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Related cards
Team card: #94 Detroit Tigers
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- #72 Aurelio Rodriguez
- #115 Willie Horton
- #138 Ed Brinkman
- #162 Bill Freehan
- #186 Fred Scherman
- #208 1973 Leading Firemen
- #215 Al Kaline
- #240 Joe Coleman
- #266 Jim Northrup
- #292 Chuck Seelbach
- #316 Jim Perry
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1974 Topps #578 card?
It is card #578 of the 660-card 1974 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ralph Houk of the Detroit Tigers. Managers have their own cards this year, separate from the 24 team cards: twenty Field Leaders cards picture a manager with two to four of his coaches, and #578 Ralph Houk of the Tigers is the one solo manager card. The Athletics, Yankees and Padres have a team card but no manager card. Eight Field Leaders cards include a Hall of Famer, among them the Dodgers' Walter Alston and Tom Lasorda (#144) and coaches Bill Mazeroski (#489) and Larry Doby (#531).
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.