1978 Topps #600 Frank Tanana
About Frank Tanana
Tanana opened 1978 with a 1-0 shutout of Oakland and stood 14-6 through the end of July with a 2.99 ERA. His last 11 starts went 4-6 with a 5.22 ERA. He finished 18-12, and his strikeouts fell to 137 from 205 the year before. He appears with John Candelaria of the Pirates on League Leaders #207. His own 1978 card is #600.
Frank Tanana was a left-handed starter who pitched 21 seasons in the majors, 1973 to 1993, for the Angels, Red Sox, Rangers, Tigers, Mets and Yankees. The Angels made the Detroit Catholic Central product their first-round pick in 1971. From 1973 to 1979 he and Nolan Ryan pitched together in the California rotation, a pairing summed up as "Tanana and Ryan and two days of cryin'." He led the American League in strikeouts in 1975 and in ERA in 1977, and made three straight All-Star teams from 1976. Shoulder and elbow trouble then forced him to trade a hard fastball for changing speeds and deception, which carried him through 1993. He won playoff-clinching games for the Angels in 1979 and the Tigers in 1987, and he pitched eight seasons for the Tigers, the club he rooted for as a boy. After becoming a born-again Christian in 1983 he became a leader in baseball's Christian community. He retired at 240-236 with a 3.66 ERA and 2,773 strikeouts.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 204 | 15 | 133 | 39 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 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
More Frank Tanana in this set: #207 League Leaders
Team card: #214 California Angels Team
More California Angels cards:
- #6 Nolan Ryan
- #18 Bob Grich
- #48 Don Baylor
- #71 Terry Humphrey
- #115 Gary Nolan
- #150 Bobby Bonds
- #178 Dave Chalk
- #206 1977 Strikeout Leaders
- #207 1977 ERA Leaders
- #239 Dyar Miller
- #268 Gil Flores
- #291 Gary Ross
- #313 Andy Etchebarren
- #339 Mario Guerrero
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1978 Topps #600 card?
It is card #600 of the 726-card 1978 Topps Baseball set, picturing Frank Tanana of the California Angels.
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.