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Thomas James Griffin
Houston Astros
Pitcher
Born: February 22, 1948, Los Angeles, CA
Drafted: Drafted by the Houston Astros in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 1966 amateur draft, January 29, 1966
Major League Teams: Houston Astros 1969-76; San Diego Padres 1976-77; California Angels 1978; San Francisco Giants 1979-81; Pittsburgh Pirates 1982
Dragon Eugene Guinn
Houston Astros
Pitcher
Born: October 25, 1944, St. Charles, MO
Signed: Signed by the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent before 1964 season
Major League Teams: Atlanta Braves 1968; Houston Astros 1969, 1971
A star high school athlete from Los Angeles, Tom Griffin pitched in 14 big league seasons, primarily with the Astros. Griffin's rookie season was perhaps his best, as he was 11-10 with a 3.54 ERA in 31 starts. He had exactly 200 strikeouts in 188 1/3 innings pitched. Griffin would move back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen with the Astros over the next 6 1/2 seasons, winning 14 games in 1974 and crossing the 200 inning plateau for the only time in the majors with 211 innings pitched. Picked up on waivers by the Padres in August 1976, Griffin spent a year and a half in San Diego. He'd finish his career with the Angels, Giants and Pirates, having a mini resurgence with the Giants in 1980, going 5-1 with a 2.76 ERA mostly in relief. For his career, Griffin was 77-94 in 401 games pitched, with a 4.07 ERA. He had 1,054 strikeouts in 1,494 2/3 innings pitched. His 81 career wild pitches currently rank 200th on the all-time list, and he twice led the league in hit batters in 1980 (8) and 1981 (7).
Skip Guinn made 35 relief appearances with the Braves and Astros between 1968 and 1971. He pitched in three games with the Braves in 1968, was left unprotected in the 1968 expansion draft, and was the 17th pick overall by the Expos. Guinn was then dealt to the Astros on April 8, 1969 when Donn Clendenon (#208) refused to report to Houston following his trade from Montreal. Guinn pitched in a career-high 28 games for the Astros in 1969, and a series of rough outings saw his ERA at 6.67 for the season. He'd spend all of 1970 in the minor leagues and make four more relief appearances with the Astros in 1971. Guinn pitched in the Astros, Cubs and Royals organizations through the 1973 season before retiring. His grandson, Kyle Harrison, has pitched with the Giants and Red Sox the past three seasons.
Building the Set / Card #584
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime)
The Card / Astros Team Set / Griffin Accuracy Index -3 / Guinn Accuracy Index +5
This is the rookie card for both. Griffin may be wearing an Astros hat, and Guinn definitely is. Kudos to Topps for rushing a photo of Guinn, as he was acquired by the Astros on opening day.
September 21, 2025 from The Philly Show (America's Pastime)
On Sunday morning, September 21st, I made the hour-long drive to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania for the latest installment of the Philadelphia Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, known to its friends as The Philly Show. The show has a legitimate official sponsor (eBay) and the advertisement for the event notes the show is in its 50th year. I hadn't attended a baseball card show since the last Philly Show in December, and I was flying solo to this one as our oldest son is in his first month of college at Villanova. I posted a full summary of the show over at The Phillies Room.
I made stops at six tables at the show, all yielding needed cards for our 1969 Topps set, and I left the show with just 16 more cards to go for my version of a complete set. The first place I stopped was a table with well-organized and well-marked binders of commons and semi-stars with 20% Off notes across the front of each binder.
I took my time and found 32 commons and semi-stars needed before asking to see the dealer's star cards from the set. It turned out this first purchase was also my biggest, as I spent over half my allotted budget here, America's Pastime from Fair Lawn, New Jersey, before moving on to my second stop. This was the 25th of 36 total cards bought from America's Pastime, and the 25th of 91 cards for set added overall on the day, and it cost a little over $1.50 after the dealer discount.
The Card / Astros Team Set / Griffin Accuracy Index -3 / Guinn Accuracy Index +5
This is the rookie card for both. Griffin may be wearing an Astros hat, and Guinn definitely is. Kudos to Topps for rushing a photo of Guinn, as he was acquired by the Astros on opening day.
Accuracy Index: Griffin loses points for the mystery hat, and Guinn's half of the card scores a +5.
Other Notable Baseball Cards - Griffin
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #614
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1969-71, 1973-82
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1982 Topps #777
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 52 in the Beckett online database as of 10/24/25.
Sources - Griffin:
Other Notable Baseball Cards - Guinn
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #614
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3): 1969-71
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1971 Topps #741
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 9 in the Beckett online database as of 10/24/25.
Sources - Guinn:
1969 Season - Griffin
Griffin won a roster spot out of spring training, and slotted into the starting pitching rotation behind Don Wilson (#202) and Larry Dierker (#411). All three pitchers would finish the season with at least 200 strikeouts, as Griffin reached the mark with nine strikeouts in his final start of the season on September 28th. Griffin led all National League pitchers in strikeouts per nine innings with a 9.558 mark.
Griffin won a roster spot out of spring training, and slotted into the starting pitching rotation behind Don Wilson (#202) and Larry Dierker (#411). All three pitchers would finish the season with at least 200 strikeouts, as Griffin reached the mark with nine strikeouts in his final start of the season on September 28th. Griffin led all National League pitchers in strikeouts per nine innings with a 9.558 mark.
1969 Season - Guinn
Guinn was 1-2 with the aforementioned 6.67 ERA for the Astros. In four different outings, he allowed runs without recording an out. With the Double-A Savannah Senators, Guinn made one start and threw seven shutout innings.
Guinn was 1-2 with the aforementioned 6.67 ERA for the Astros. In four different outings, he allowed runs without recording an out. With the Double-A Savannah Senators, Guinn made one start and threw seven shutout innings.
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Other Notable Baseball Cards - Griffin
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #614
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (13): 1969-71, 1973-82
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1982 Topps #777
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 52 in the Beckett online database as of 10/24/25.
Sources - Griffin:
Other Notable Baseball Cards - Guinn
First Mainstream Card: 1969 Topps #614
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (3): 1969-71
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1971 Topps #741
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 9 in the Beckett online database as of 10/24/25.
Sources - Guinn:
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