1972 Topps #216 Joe Niekro
About Joe Niekro
The 1972 Tigers used Niekro in 18 games, seven of them starts. He went 3-2 with a 3.83 ERA. In 47 innings he struck out 24. Topps placed his #216 in the second series of its 1972 set, a design collectors call the psychedelic tombstones, and the card carries the Tigers.
Joe Niekro pitched 22 big-league seasons from 1967 to 1988, breaking in with the Chicago Cubs before stops with the San Diego Padres, Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros, New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins. He found his greatest success in Houston, where he mastered the knuckleball his father had taught him and his older brother Phil, becoming the first Astros pitcher to win 20 games in back-to-back seasons (1979 and 1980). His 1979 campaign brought his only All-Star selection, a league-leading 21 wins, and the TSN Pitcher of the Year award. He finished his career with 221 wins, and he and Phil combined for a major-league record 539 victories by a pair of brothers. Niekro also reached the 1987 World Series with Minnesota. He died in 2006 following a brain aneurysm; his family's foundation now funds research into that condition.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 292 | 7 | 76 | 158 | 36 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 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
Team card: #487 Detroit Tigers
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #6 Fred Scherman
- #33 Billy Martin
- #34 Billy Martin In Action
- #83 Dalton Jones
- #90 1971 A.L. Home Run Leaders
- #94 1971 A.L. Pitching Leaders
- #96 1971 A.L. Strikeout Leaders
- #120 Bill Freehan
- #150 Norm Cash
- #175 Tom Haller
- #176 Tom Haller In Action
- #187 Gates Brown
- #239 Tom Timmermann
- #257 Tigers 1972 Rookie Stars
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #216 card?
It is card #216 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Joe Niekro of the Detroit Tigers.
Does #216 come in two versions?
One catalog lists two printings of #216 - with or without a black line between the 6 and 1 of Joe Niekro's height on the back - but PSA's master set does not include them, so #216 is tracked here as a single card.
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.