#7 1968 A.L. ERA Leaders - Luis Tiant / Sam McDowell / Dave McNally

Beginning in 1961, Topps started including league leader cards in its sets and there are 12 league leaders cards kicking off the 1969 Topps set.  League leader cards can be found at the beginning of each Topps set issued in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1969.

Building the Set / Card #80
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set.  That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon.  I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.

This is the third of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York.  My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside.  After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far.  With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298.  The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards.  (This card was marked $2.50, but goes down as $2.08 in my tracking schedule.)  If I stick to composing posts five times a week, which may slip through the summer months, I should go through the stack and be caught up by the week of January 22, 2024!

The Card / Indians Team Set / Orioles Team Set

A number of the league leaders cards in the 1969 set lack serious star power, and this card is no exception, but at least all three players here have team logos on their hats.  Teammates Luis Tiant (#560) and Sam McDowell (#220) had fantastic seasons for the third place Indians, and their personal records would likely have been better on a team with more wins.  Tiant was 21-9 with a 1.60 ERA in 34 overall appearances, including 32 starts, and 258 1/3 innings pitched.  

Given Denny McLain (#150) was 31-6 with a 1.96 in 1968, no other American League pitcher even received consideration in the Cy Young Award voting.  Tiant would win the ERA title again in 1972 with the Red Sox, with a 1.91 mark.  McDowell had been a previous ERA title winner in 1965 when his ERA was 2.18.  He made five more starts than Tiant and threw a team leading 269 innings.

Dave McNally (#340) just squeaked by McLain for the third spot on the front of the card, earning a 1.95 ERA.  His ERA in the 1969 postseason was 1.67 overall.  This card is listed as an UER (uncorrected error) on most checklists, given Topps misspelled McNally's name on the back.

#6 1968 N.L. Home Run Leaders / #8 1968 N.L. ERA Leaders