1972 Topps #270 Jim Palmer
About Jim Palmer
Palmer is on two 1972 Topps cards: #92, a first-series American League ERA leaders card shared with Oakland's Vida Blue and Chicago's Wilbur Wood, and Orioles card #270 in the third series. In 1972 he went 21-10 with a 2.07 ERA. He completed 18 of his 36 starts and made his third straight All-Star team, in a year Baltimore dropped to third place.
James Alvin Palmer pitched all 19 of his major league seasons with the Baltimore Orioles (1965-1967, 1969-1984) and finished as the winningest pitcher of the 1970s with 186 wins. A right-hander whose best pitch was a high fastball, he worked on three World Series champions (1966, 1970, 1983) and six American League pennant winners, and he is the only pitcher to win a World Series game in three different decades. His Game Two shutout of Los Angeles in the 1966 Series, thrown nine days before his 21st birthday, made him the youngest man to pitch a complete-game shutout in a Series and sent Sandy Koufax off in his final appearance. Palmer won three Cy Young Awards (1973, 1975, 1976), four straight Gold Gloves (1976-1979), two ERA titles and six All-Star selections. He won 20 or more games eight times and finished 268-152 with a 2.86 ERA and 53 shutouts. Arm trouble cost him most of 1967 and all of 1968, but he came back in 1969 with the only no-hitter of his career. He was nicknamed Cakes for the pancakes he ate on the mornings he pitched. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990, his first year of eligibility.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 1,548 | 20 | 215 | 551 | 264 | 207 | 140 | 151 | 0 |
| SGC | 309 | 1 | 16 | 57 | 79 | 63 | 43 | 46 | 4 |
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 Jim Palmer in this set: #92 League Leaders
Team card: #731 Baltimore Orioles
More Baltimore Orioles cards:
- #26 Andy Etchebarren
- #70 Mike Cuellar
- #86 1971 A.L. Batting Leaders
- #88 1971 A.L. R.B.I. Leaders
- #92 1971 A.L. E.R.A. Leaders
- #100 Frank Robinson
- #128 Eddie Watt
- #140 Pat Dobson
- #212 Grant Jackson
- #222 1971 A.L. Playoffs: Orioles Champs!
- #223 1971 World Series Game No. 1
- #224 1971 World Series Game No. 2
- #228 1971 World Series Game No. 6
- #235 Merv Rettenmund
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #270 card?
It is card #270 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles.
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.