1972 Topps #96 1971 A.L. Strikeout Leaders - Mickey Lolich / Vida Blue / Joe Coleman
On this card: Mickey Lolich, Vida Blue, Joe Coleman
About this card
Cards #85-96 are the twelve League Leaders cards: the 1971 leaders in batting, runs batted in, home runs, earned run average, pitching and strikeouts, one card per league in each category with the National League card first, and three or four players on each card (#93 names four).
The story on this card
Card #96 gives the American League's 1971 strikeout totals. Mickey Lolich of the Detroit Tigers struck out 308, a Tigers single-season record. Vida Blue of the Oakland Athletics had 301 in 312 innings during his 24-win season. Joe Coleman, Lolich's Tigers teammate, ranked third at 236, a career high in his first year after a trade from the Washington Senators; he went 20-9 with a 3.15 ERA. The three appear in the League Leaders subset (#85-96) of the first series, printed with the Tigers and Athletics.
Mickey Lolich pitched 13 seasons for Detroit and won three complete games in the 1968 World Series. His Game 7 victory over Bob Gibson secured the championship and the Series MVP award. Vida Blue was a hard-throwing left-hander who won the 1971 American League Cy Young Award and MVP Award with Oakland, pitched for three straight World Series winners from 1972 to 1974, and finished 209-161 with the Athletics, Giants and Royals. Joe Coleman was the first amateur draft pick to reach the majors, debuting with the Washington Senators at eighteen in 1965. He won 20 games for Detroit in 1971 and a career-high 23 in 1973.
Sources: Wikipedia (Mickey Lolich) · Wikipedia (Vida Blue) · Wikipedia (Joe Coleman (baseball, born 1947)) · SABR BioProject (Mickey Lolich) · SABR BioProject (Vida Blue) · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 302 | 5 | 57 | 131 | 52 | 22 | 21 | 14 | 0 |
| SGC | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 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 cards: #487 Detroit Tigers, #454 Oakland A's
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #6 Fred Scherman
- #33 Billy Martin
- #34 Billy Martin In Action
- #83 Dalton Jones
- #90 1971 A.L. Home Run Leaders
- #94 1971 A.L. Pitching Leaders
More Oakland Athletics cards:
- #17 Dave Duncan
- #41 Tommy Davis
- #42 Tommy Davis In Action
- #62 Angel Mangual
- #75 Bert Campaneris
- #90 1971 A.L. Home Run Leaders
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #96 card?
It is card #96 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mickey Lolich, Vida Blue and Joe Coleman. Cards #85-96 are the twelve League Leaders cards: the 1971 leaders in batting, runs batted in, home runs, earned run average, pitching and strikeouts, one card per league in each category with the National League card first, and three or four players on each card (#93 names four).
How many cards are in the 1972 Topps Baseball set?
787 cards, tracked as 794 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 787 with none skipped, in six print series (#1-132, #133-263, #264-394, #395-525, #526-656 and #657-787, the high numbers); 7 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - four Chicago Cubs cards with yellow or green under the "C" and "S" of the team name, the #251 and #478 checklists with smaller or larger print on the front, and the #604 checklist with its copyright line aligned right or left.
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.