1970 Topps #653 Moe Drabowsky
About Moe Drabowsky
Drabowsky opened 1970 with the Royals and closed it with Baltimore's championship. After a hospital stay for an adverse reaction to medication, he saw on the scoreboard June 15 that Orioles pitchers had been hit hard late against Milwaukee and speculated the team would want bullpen help. He was traded back to Baltimore. Over the full season he went 5-4 with a 3.52 ERA and three saves. He threw 3 1/3 innings against the Reds in the World Series. His #653 is a series 7 high number with Kansas City.
Myron Walter "Moe" Drabowsky, born July 21, 1935, in Ozanna, Poland, grew up in Connecticut. The Cubs signed him out of Trinity College in 1956 as a bonus baby, by his own account for $75,000, and in 1957 he struck out 170 batters, tied for second in the National League. His elbow gave out in July 1958. Over 17 seasons he pitched for the Cubs, Braves, Reds, Athletics, Orioles, Royals, Cardinals and White Sox and finished 88-105 with a 3.71 ERA. He saved 55 games and struck out 1,162. Baltimore remade him as a reliever, and in the 1966 World Series opener he allowed one hit over 6 2/3 innings and struck out 11 Dodgers, a single-game record for a relief pitcher, six in a row to match Hod Eller's 1919 mark. He won a second ring in 1970. Off the mound he was known as a prankster: snakes in teammates' lockers, bullpen phone pranks, a hotfoot for Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. He was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 1999 and died in 2006.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 238 | 9 | 63 | 131 | 28 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1970 Topps #653 card?
It is card #653 of the 720-card 1970 Topps Baseball set, picturing Moe Drabowsky of the Kansas City Royals.
Why is #653 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the seventh and last series, #634-720 - the high numbers, and the toughest series of the set to find.
How many cards are in the 1970 Topps Baseball set?
720 cards, tracked as 726 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 720 with none skipped, issued in seven series - #1-132, #133-263, #264-372, #373-459, #460-546, #547-633 and the high numbers, #634-720; 6 cards, all of them checklists, carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
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.