1972 Topps #753 Denny McLain
About this card
Cards #751-757 are the seven Traded cards - the first traded subset Topps printed - each naming the club the player had just joined; among them are Hall of Famers Steve Carlton (#751), Joe Morgan (#752) and Frank Robinson (#754). Every Traded player also has a regular card in the set.
About Denny McLain
McLain went 10-22 with a 4.28 ERA for the 1971 Washington Senators, amid trouble with his arm and a feud with manager Ted Williams. Topps carried him twice in 1972: #210 with the Texas Rangers in the second series, and #753 with the Oakland Athletics in the Traded subset of the sixth. Oakland sent him to the minors on May 15 and dealt him to Atlanta on June 29 for Orlando Cepeda.
Dennis Dale McLain signed with the Chicago White Sox out of Mt. Carmel High School in Chicago in 1962, only for the Detroit Tigers to claim him on waivers the following April. He reached Detroit on September 21, 1963 at the age of 19 and homered in his major-league debut, the only home run he would ever hit. He relied heavily on his fastball, and it cost him home runs: he led the American League in home runs allowed three straight years, 1966 through 1968. His signature season came in 1968, when he went 31-6 with a 1.96 ERA to become the last pitcher to win 30 games in a season, taking both the American League Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player honors as Detroit won the World Series. A second straight Cy Young followed in 1969, shared with Baltimore's Mike Cuellar. McLain was a three-time All-Star, in 1966, 1968 and 1969. Suspensions, gambling troubles and a worn-out arm then undid him: traded to the Washington Senators in October 1970, he lost 22 games in 1971 and finished with Oakland and Atlanta in 1972, out of baseball by 1973. He retired 131-91 with a 3.39 ERA and 1,282 strikeouts over ten seasons.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 460 | 8 | 65 | 201 | 113 | 39 | 17 | 17 | 0 |
| SGC | 48 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 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
More Denny McLain in this set: #210
Team card: #454 Oakland A's
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
- #92 1971 A.L. E.R.A. Leaders
- #94 1971 A.L. Pitching Leaders
- #96 1971 A.L. Strikeout Leaders
- #111 Jim Grant
- #137 Dick Williams
- #169 Vida Blue
- #170 Vida Blue In Action
- #189 Gene Tenace
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #753 card?
It is card #753 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Denny McLain of the Oakland Athletics. Cards #751-757 are the seven Traded cards - the first traded subset Topps printed - each naming the club the player had just joined; among them are Hall of Famers Steve Carlton (#751), Joe Morgan (#752) and Frank Robinson (#754). Every Traded player also has a regular card in the set.
Why is #753 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.