1978 Topps #286 Ben Oglivie
About Ben Oglivie
In his first season with Milwaukee, at age 29, Oglivie worked with coach Frank Howard, who hit him fly balls day after day to smooth out his fielding. He led the Brewers in batting at .303 with 142 hits in 128 games. He added 18 home runs and 72 RBI. Card #286 still carries the Tigers, the club that had traded him away in December.
Ben Oglivie was a left-handed outfielder from Colon, Panama, who played 16 major league seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and Milwaukee Brewers between 1971 and 1986, then two more in Japan with the Kintetsu Buffaloes. He signed with Boston after the Red Sox drafted him in the 11th round in 1968, a year after his family moved from Panama to the Bronx. Boston and Detroit used him mostly as a platoon and bench bat. Milwaukee made him an everyday left fielder, and in 1980 he hit 41 home runs, tying Reggie Jackson for the American League lead and becoming the first foreign-born player to win a major league home run title. He drove in 118 runs that year, won a Silver Slugger, and was an All-Star in 1980, 1982 and 1983. He played in the 1982 World Series with the Brewers and finished with 235 home runs and a .273 average in 1,754 games. He was inducted into the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 109 | 24 | 53 | 23 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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: #404 Detroit Tigers Team
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- #176 Milt May
- #232 Mickey Stanley
- #258 John Hiller
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1978 Topps #286 card?
It is card #286 of the 726-card 1978 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ben Oglivie of the Detroit Tigers.
How many cards are in the 1978 Topps Baseball set?
726 cards, numbered 1 through 726 with none skipped and issued as a single series, and 728 collectible states: #23 Bump Wills comes with or without a black circle, and #374 Jose Morales with or without black stitching over the red laces, so the master set counts both states of each.
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.