1972 Topps #61 Cubs Rookie Stars - Burt Hooton / Gene Hiser / Earl Stephenson
On this card: Burt Hooton, Gene Hiser, Earl Stephenson
About this card
This is one of the 29 Rookie Stars cards in the 1972 Topps set, each carrying two or three players under a club title (#724, #741 and #761 are league-wide), and all 29 are rookie cards.
The story on this card
Hooton was named the National League's first Player of the Week of 1972 after no-hitting the Phillies 4-0 on April 16 at rain-drenched Wrigley Field, walking seven and throwing 118 pitches before 9,583 fans. No National League rookie had done it since Jeff Tesreau in 1912. He finished 11-14 with a 2.80 ERA in 218 1/3 innings. His #61 card is a three-man Rookie Stars issue shared with Gene Hiser and Earl Stephenson, all printed with the Cubs, and it is the first card for each. Right-hander for the Cubs, Dodgers and Rangers from 1971 to 1985, known for a knuckle-curve. He no-hit the Phillies in 1972, won 19 games in 1978 and was the 1981 NLCS MVP. He finished 151-136 with a 3.38 ERA.
Hiser reached Chicago in 1971 after a stretch of active military duty, appearing in 17 games and hitting .207. In 1972 he divided the year between Wrigley Field and Triple-A Wichita, and in 32 games with the Cubs he hit .196. Card #61 is a three-player Rookie Stars card from the first series of the 1972 Topps set, shared with Burt Hooton and Earl Stephenson. All three are printed with the Cubs, and it is a rookie card for each of them. Left-handed-hitting Cubs outfielder from 1971 to 1975, taken 19th overall out of Maryland in the 1970 draft. He played 206 major league games, hit .202, and later worked as a financial-services agent in the Chicago area.
Stephenson went 3-5 with a 3.25 ERA in 35 games for Milwaukee in 1972. His first starting win came June 25: seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory over Boston. On July 5 at Anaheim, he matched Nolan Ryan for eight scoreless innings before Winston Llenas's ninth-inning single beat him 1-0. Topps #61, a first-series Cubs Rookie Stars card with Burt Hooton and Gene Hiser, was the rookie card for all three. Earl Stephenson was a left-handed pitcher who worked 54 games for the Cubs, Brewers and Orioles between 1971 and 1978, finishing 4-5 with a 3.57 ERA, and later pitched in the Senior Professional Baseball Association.
Sources: Wikipedia (Burt Hooton) · Wikipedia (Gene Hiser) · Wikipedia (Earl Stephenson) · SABR BioProject · Retrosheet (1) · Retrosheet (2) · Retrosheet (3) · BaseballCardPedia · Trading Card Database
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 341 | 5 | 65 | 193 | 47 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #61 card?
It is card #61 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Burt Hooton, Gene Hiser and Earl Stephenson. This is one of the 29 Rookie Stars cards in the 1972 Topps set, each carrying two or three players under a club title (#724, #741 and #761 are league-wide), and all 29 are rookie cards.
Is 1972 Topps #61 a rookie card?
Yes - #61 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Burt Hooton, Gene Hiser and Earl Stephenson.
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.