1971 Topps #223 Cecil Upshaw
About Cecil Upshaw
Upshaw's #223 is a second-series Braves card that follows a season lost to injury. Walking in San Diego after the April 8, 1970 game, he caught his right ring finger on an awning, and surgeons at Stanford Medical Center reconnected a severed artery. In 1971 he won the Braves' opener against Cincinnati, relieving Phil Niekro in the sixth with Atlanta ahead 4-3, and finished 11-6 with 17 saves and a 3.51 ERA.
Cecil Upshaw was a 6-foot-6 sidearm relief pitcher who spent nine seasons in the majors, beginning with the Atlanta Braves. Signed by the Milwaukee Braves out of Centenary College for a $30,000 bonus, he debuted in October 1966. He ranked among the National League's top ten in saves four times between 1968 and 1972, including a career-high 27 in the Braves' 1969 division-winning season. A hand injury in April 1970 nearly derailed his career, and he returned to form in 1971 after months of rehabilitation. He was later traded to the Houston Astros, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, and finally the Chicago White Sox, retiring after the 1975 season with 86 career saves and a 3.13 ERA over 348 games. He died in 1995 at age 52.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 376 | 2 | 16 | 191 | 129 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 17 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 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: #652 Atlanta Braves
More Atlanta Braves cards:
- #8 Mike McQueen
- #30 Phil Niekro
- #52 Braves 1971 Rookie Stars
- #62 1970 National League Batting Leaders
- #81 Felix Millan
- #88 Hal King
- #147 Bob Priddy
- #173 Gil Garrido
- #194 Mike Lum
- #244 Bob Tillman
- #270 Rico Carty
- #306 Jim Nash
- #346 Lum Harris
- #359 Ron Reed
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #223 card?
It is card #223 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Cecil Upshaw of the Atlanta Braves.
How many cards are in the 1971 Topps Baseball set?
752 cards, tracked as 761 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 752 with none skipped, issued in six print series (132/131/130/130/120/109 cards), the sixth (#644-752) the high numbers; seven cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - the #42, #265 and #306 photo pairs and the #123, #206, #369 and #619 checklists, #369 and #619 in three printings each.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA (its price guide, master set registry and set article), 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.