1972 Topps #419 Jim Spencer
About Jim Spencer
A knee injury hobbled Spencer at the start of 1972, and on May 5 the Angels acquired first baseman Bob Oliver from Kansas City as insurance. When Oliver homered in each of his first two games, Spencer was squeezed to 36 starts the rest of the way, many in left field at his own request. He finished with one home run in 212 at-bats, felt misused and briefly considered retiring. Card #419 pictures him with the California Angels.
Jim Spencer was a left-handed first baseman who played 15 major-league seasons, 1968 to 1982, with the Angels, Rangers, White Sox, Yankees and Athletics. As a boy he asked Brooks Robinson for fielding tips and was told to keep his glove down near the dirt, and he retired with the highest lifetime fielding percentage of any first baseman. His grandfather, Ben Spencer, had a brief stint in the outfield for the 1913 Washington Senators. Out of Andover High School in suburban Baltimore, he was the Angels' first pick, 11th overall, in the first amateur draft in June 1965. In 1968 he led the Texas League in runs, home runs, RBIs and total bases for El Paso, shared MVP honors and earned a September call-up. He finished with a .250 average, 146 home runs and 599 RBIs. In 1980 he signed a four-year Yankees contract carrying a stipulation that became known as the Spencer Clause. A spring 1981 trade to Pittsburgh for Jason Thompson was voided by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, and on May 20 the Yankees sent him to Oakland with Tom Underwood. The A's released him early in 1982. He died of a heart attack in Fort Lauderdale on February 10, 2002, at 54, the night after playing first base in a charity game.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 288 | 9 | 82 | 160 | 22 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 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 #419 card?
It is card #419 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Spencer of the California Angels.
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.