1978 Topps #345 Luis Tiant
About Luis Tiant
Tiant went 12-8 with a 4.53 ERA in 1977, pitching 188 2/3 innings for Boston. Three of his 32 starts were complete-game shutouts. His 1978 Topps card is #345. He finished 1978 at 13-8 with a 3.31 ERA and five shutouts, then signed with the Yankees as a free agent.
Luis Clemente Tiant Vega, born November 23, 1940 in Marianao, Cuba, was a right-handed pitcher whose 19 big-league seasons ran from 1964 to 1982, most of them with the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox. The son of Negro leagues star Luis Tiant Sr., he was pitching in Mexico and Cuba when Cleveland bought his contract in 1961 on the recommendation of former Indians All-Star Bobby Avila. With Fidel Castro's Cuba closed to him, he did not see his parents for 14 years. He debuted on July 19, 1964 with an 11-strikeout, 3-0 shutout of the defending American League champion New York Yankees, beating Whitey Ford. A fractured right shoulder blade and a release by Minnesota nearly finished him in 1971, but he rebuilt his delivery in the minors into the twisting, turn-your-back windup that made El Tiante a Fenway Park institution, winning 20 or more games four times and beating Cincinnati twice in the 1975 World Series. He finished 229-172 with a 3.30 ERA over 3,486 1/3 innings. He struck out 2,416 batters, completed 187 games and threw 49 shutouts. He was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. He died October 8, 2024.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 315 | 17 | 164 | 91 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 18 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1978 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #424 Boston Red Sox Team
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #12 Don Aase
- #40 Carl Yastrzemski
- #63 Don Zimmer
- #83 Bob Montgomery
- #105 Reggie Cleveland
- #125 George Scott
- #155 Butch Hobson
- #186 Bob Stanley
- #202 1977 Home Run Leaders
- #208 1977 Leading Firemen
- #216 Mike Paxton
- #245 Rick Burleson
- #270 Carlton Fisk
- #295 Bill Lee
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1978 Topps #345 card?
It is card #345 of the 726-card 1978 Topps Baseball set, picturing Luis Tiant of the Boston Red Sox.
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.