1971 Topps #403 Joe Coleman
About Joe Coleman
Coleman's first Detroit season began with a scare: on March 27, 1971, a Ted Simmons line drive knocked him unconscious in a spring game and fractured his skull, and he did not join the Tigers until May. He was 7-6 on July 4, then went 13-3 the rest of the way. He finished 20-9 with a 3.15 ERA and 16 complete games. His 236 strikeouts, a career high, ranked third in the American League behind Mickey Lolich and Vida Blue. Card #403 shows him with the Tigers.
Joe Coleman was a right-handed pitcher who became the first-ever amateur draft pick to reach the majors, debuting with the Washington Senators in September 1965 less than four months after high school. He was in the Senators' rotation from 1967 to 1970 before a trade sent him to Detroit. There he won 20 games in 1971 and a career-high 23 in 1973. Later stops included the Chicago Cubs, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates before his major league career ended in 1979 with a 142-135 record and 1,728 strikeouts over fifteen seasons. He later coached in the Angels and Cardinals organizations, serving as St. Louis's pitching coach from 1991 through 1994. His father and son were also major league pitchers, making the Colemans the first three-generation pitching family in major league history.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 287 | 0 | 16 | 143 | 103 | 19 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 19 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 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: #336 Detroit Tigers
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #3 Dick McAuliffe
- #39 Tigers 1971 Rookie Stars
- #71 1970 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #86 Mike Kilkenny
- #101 Les Cain
- #120 Willie Horton
- #133 Mickey Lolich
- #154 Cesar Gutierrez
- #180 Al Kaline
- #208 Billy Martin
- #229 Jim Hannan
- #265 Jim Northrup
- #296 Tom Timmermann
- #316 Fred Scherman
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #403 card?
It is card #403 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Joe Coleman of the Detroit Tigers.
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.