1972 Topps #312 Clay Carroll In Action
About this card
This is one of the 72 In Action cards, each numbered right after the same man's card, in six blocks of twelve even numbers, one per series: #32-54, #164-186, #292-314, #426-448, #552-574 and #692-714 (#34 Billy Martin follows his #33 manager card). The backs of the 24 In Action cards in the fifth and sixth series piece together into pictures of Joe Torre and Carl Yastrzemski (fifth series) and Tony Oliva and Tom Seaver (sixth).
About Clay Carroll In Action
After a slow start to 1972, Carroll was told by Sparky Anderson to forget his secondary pitches and just throw hard, and the advice took. He finished 6-4 with a 2.25 ERA in 65 relief appearances, and his league-leading save total stood as the National League record until Bruce Sutter saved 45 in 1984. He tied for fifth in Cy Young voting, then went 0-1 in the seven-game World Series loss to Oakland. Topps gave him two third-series cards as a Red, #311 and its In Action companion #312.
Clay Carroll grew up in the cotton mill town of Clanton, Alabama, one of nine children of a mill worker, and signed with the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent in 1961 for $1,000. He reached the majors in September 1964 and became a bullpen regular by 1966, leading the National League that year with 73 appearances for the Braves. A June 1968 trade sent him to Cincinnati, where he pitched in the Big Red Machine bullpen through 1975, and teammates called him Hawk for the way his profile resembled the bird. He made the National League All-Star team in 1971 and 1972, and in 1972 he led the league with 37 saves and was named The Sporting News Fireman of the Year. Carroll worked nine shutout innings in the 1970 World Series and won the only game Cincinnati took from Baltimore, then won Game Seven of the 1975 World Series, the game that brought the Reds their first championship in 35 years. He later pitched for the Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates, making his last big-league appearance in 1978 and finishing 96-73 with 143 saves. Cincinnati elected him to the Reds Hall of Fame in 1980, and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame followed in 1992.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 225 | 7 | 48 | 111 | 36 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 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
More Clay Carroll in this set: #311 Clay Carroll
Team card: #651 Cincinnati Reds
More Cincinnati Reds cards:
- #3 Bob Tolan
- #80 Tony Perez
- #89 1971 N.L. Home Run Leaders
- #99 Ross Grimsley
- #121 Ed Sprague
- #136 Darrel Chaney
- #157 Don Gullett
- #236 Jim McGlothlin
- #256 George Foster
- #267 Dave Concepcion
- #291 Hal McRae
- #292 Hal McRae In Action
- #311 Clay Carroll
- #358 Sparky Anderson
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #312 card?
It is card #312 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Clay Carroll of the Cincinnati Reds. This is one of the 72 In Action cards, each numbered right after the same man's card, in six blocks of twelve even numbers, one per series: #32-54, #164-186, #292-314, #426-448, #552-574 and #692-714 (#34 Billy Martin follows his #33 manager card). The backs of the 24 In Action cards in the fifth and sixth series piece together into pictures of Joe Torre and Carl Yastrzemski (fifth series) and Tony Oliva and Tom Seaver (sixth).
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.