1972 Topps #718 Del Rice
About this card
Every club has a manager card of its own this year, separate from the 24 team cards, and every one of the 24 manager cards pictures the manager alone. Nine of them are Hall of Famers, and #510 Ted Williams manages the Texas Rangers in their first season after the move from Washington.
About Del Rice
Rice spent 1967 coaching Cleveland before returning to the Angels organization as a minor league manager. The Sporting News named him Minor League Manager of the Year for 1971 after he led the Salt Lake City Bees to a Pacific Coast League divisional title, and the 1972 Angels job followed. That club went 75-80 and finished fifth. His California manager card is #718 in the sixth series. Bobby Winkles replaced him after that one season, and Rice stayed on as a scout.
Del Rice was a tall, right-handed catcher who spent 17 major league seasons, from 1945 through 1961, prized far more for his glove and his handling of pitchers than for his bat. Signed by the Cardinals as an 18-year-old in 1941, he broke in with St. Louis in 1945 and caught all three of Harry Brecheen's victories in the 1946 World Series, a seven-game win over the Red Sox. He had his best year in 1952, batting .259 with 11 home runs and a career-high 65 runs batted in while leading National League catchers in games, putouts, assists and runners caught stealing. In 1953 he was named a National League All-Star reserve, though a finger injury kept him out of the game. Traded to the Milwaukee Braves in June 1955, he became pitcher Bob Buhl's personal catcher and won a second championship with the 1957 Braves. He passed through the Cubs, Cardinals and Orioles in 1960, catching Don Cardwell's no-hitter along the way, and finished at .237 with 79 home runs over 1,309 games. He later coached for the Angels and Cleveland and managed the 1972 Angels.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 201 | 3 | 39 | 104 | 33 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1972 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #71 California Angels
More California Angels cards:
- #19 Billy Cowan
- #55 Clyde Wright
- #102 Lloyd Allen
- #115 Jim Fregosi
- #135 Vada Pinson
- #160 Andy Messersmith
- #196 Mel Queen
- #213 Angels 1972 Rookie Stars
- #253 Sandy Alomar
- #272 Mickey Rivers
- #289 Syd O'Brien
- #354 Tom Murphy
- #379 Ken Berry
- #404 Jeff Torborg
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #718 card?
It is card #718 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Del Rice of the California Angels. Every club has a manager card of its own this year, separate from the 24 team cards, and every one of the 24 manager cards pictures the manager alone. Nine of them are Hall of Famers, and #510 Ted Williams manages the Texas Rangers in their first season after the move from Washington.
Why is #718 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the sixth and last print series, #657-787 - with the fifth series, the toughest to find, per PSA.
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.