1976 Topps #37 John Hiller
About John Hiller
A tear in his left arm against Cleveland on July 25, 1975, ended John Hiller's season after 36 appearances, 14 saves and a 2.17 ERA for a Tigers club that lost 102 games. He reported to 1976 camp with a shaved head and finished 12-8 with a 2.38 ERA in 56 games, closing with a four-hit shutout of Milwaukee. His 1976 Topps card is #37, with Detroit.
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 | 176 | 28 | 77 | 52 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 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 1976 Topps #37 card?
It is card #37 of the 660-card 1976 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Hiller of the Detroit Tigers.
How many cards are in the 1976 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, numbered 1 through 660 with none skipped and printed in equal quantities as a single series. No card carries a catalogued print variation, so the base set and the master set are the same 660 cards.
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.