#10 N.L. Pitching Leaders - Juan Marichal / Bob Gibson / Fergie Jenkins

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 #286
November 18, 2023 from The TWP Card Show - Sicklerville, NJ (Sal's Sports Cards & Memorabilia)

I wrote about this show back in December at The Phillies Room.  My wife Jenna found an announcement on Faceback for a baseball card show to be held at St. Charles Borromeo Hall in Sicklerville, New Jersey on November 18th.  That Saturday, I gathered my lists and we made the short drive to what the organizers called the "First Ever Sports Card Show" in Washington Township, which I find hard to believe given the number of baseball card stores in the area back in the 1980s and 1990s.  Potential mislabeling aside, it was a decent-sized show with mostly modern stuff and slabbed Pokemon cards.  

I found the one dealer selling vintage cards, and cleaned him out of every 1969 Topps card I needed for our set, along with a few 1959 Topps cards for our next set build.  This League Leaders card was one of seven cards added to our 1969 Topps set, and the priciest of the bunch.  Credit to Jenna for finding the show, and if it happens again, I'll gladly make the 10 minute drive over there.

The Card / Giants Team Set / Cardinals Team Set / Cubs Team SetThree future Hall of Famers grace this card.  I've mentioned it somewhere before, but it's always baffled me why Topps didn't call this card Victory Leaders or Win Leaders instead of the nebulous Pitching Leaders.  In any event, Juan Marichal (#370) led the way with 26 wins, which would be his career high. 

Eventual Cy Young Award winner Bob Gibson (#200) had 22 wins to go along with his league leading 1.12 ERA.  No other pitcher received consideration for the Cy Young Award in 1968, as Gibson won unanimously.  Fergie Jenkins (#640) squeaked onto the card with his 20 wins, earning his 20th win on the final day of the season with a complete game victory over the Pirates.  If not for Jenkins' win, this card would have been a lot more crowded as there were three 19-game winners in 1968 - Nelson Briles (#60), Jerry Koosman (#90) and Chris Short (#395).

The four pitchers with seven wins each and just missing being listed on the back of this card were Don Cardwell (#193), Clay Carroll (#26), Rich Nye (#88) and George Stone (#627).

#9 1968 A.L. Pitching Leaders / #11 1968 A.L. Strikeout Leaders