1978 Topps #638 Paul Splittorff
About Paul Splittorff
Splittorff went 19-13 for the Royals in 1978 with a 3.40 ERA and 13 complete games. He pitched 7 1/3 innings in the ALCS, where New York won three games to one for the third year running. Card #638 is printed with the Royals.
Paul Splittorff was a left-handed starter who spent all 15 of his big-league seasons, 1970 to 1984, with the Kansas City Royals and finished with 166 wins, the most in franchise history. A 25th-round pick in the 1968 draft out of Morningside College, he started the first game in Royals organization history for Corning that summer. He relied on control and changing speeds rather than velocity. In 1973 he won 20 games, the first Royals pitcher to do so. He pitched in four American League Championship Series, three of them lost to the Yankees, and appeared once in the 1980 World Series against the Phillies. His career line was 166-143 with a 3.81 ERA over 2,554 2/3 innings. After retiring he worked as a Royals television color commentator for 24 years, and he was inducted into the Royals Hall of Fame in 1987. He died in Blue Springs, Missouri, in 2011.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 99 | 15 | 61 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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: #724 Kansas City Royals Team
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- #100 George Brett
- #129 Jim Colborn
- #157 Pete LaCock
- #183 Doug Bird
- #204 1977 Stolen Base Leaders
- #205 1977 Victory Leaders
- #218 Marty Pattin
- #248 Frank White
- #274 Freddie Patek
- #299 Whitey Herzog
- #331 Mark Littell
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1978 Topps #638 card?
It is card #638 of the 726-card 1978 Topps Baseball set, picturing Paul Splittorff of the Kansas City Royals.
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.