1972 Topps #438 Maury Wills In Action
About this card
This is one of the 72 In Action cards, each numbered right after the same man's card, in six blocks of twelve even numbers, one per series: #32-54, #164-186, #292-314, #426-448, #552-574 and #692-714 (#34 Billy Martin follows his #33 manager card). The backs of the 24 In Action cards in the fifth and sixth series piece together into pictures of Joe Torre and Carl Yastrzemski (fifth series) and Tony Oliva and Tom Seaver (sixth).
About Maury Wills In Action
The 1971 Dodgers got a .281 average and 169 hits from Wills, who placed sixth in the National League MVP balloting. His fourth-series cards for 1972 are #437 and the In Action card #438. Bill Russell took over at shortstop on April 29, 1972, after the players' strike delayed the opening of the season, and Wills spent the rest of the year as a reserve.
Maury Wills was the switch-hitting shortstop credited with reviving the stolen base as a weapon, a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers teams that won three World Series titles between 1959 and 1965. Signed by Brooklyn in 1950, he spent eight seasons in the minors, starting in Class D, before a June 1959 call-up finally stuck. In 1962 he stole a record 104 bases, breaking the modern-era mark of 96 that Ty Cobb set in 1915, and won the National League Most Valuable Player award over Willie Mays. He led the league in steals six times, made five All-Star teams, and won Gold Gloves at shortstop in 1961 and 1962. After the 1966 season the Dodgers traded him to Pittsburgh, where he played mostly third base. The expansion Montreal Expos drafted him after 1968, and a June 1969 trade sent him back to Los Angeles, where he finished his career. Wills retired in 1972 with a .281 average, 2,134 hits and 586 stolen bases, then managed the Seattle Mariners in parts of 1980 and 1981. He spent fifteen years on the Hall of Fame ballot, from 1978 to 1992, and peaked at 40.6% of the vote. Through most of his playing career he spent off-seasons performing on banjo in nightclubs. He died in 2022.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 214 | 2 | 21 | 119 | 38 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 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 Maury Wills in this set: #437 Maury Wills
Team card: #522 Los Angeles Dodgers
More Los Angeles Dodgers cards:
- #11 Bobby Valentine
- #25 Bill Singer
- #63 Duke Sims
- #93 1971 N.L. Pitching Leaders
- #114 Bill Buckner
- #151 Jim Brewer
- #198 Dodgers 1972 Rookie Stars
- #264 Tommy John
- #265 Wes Parker
- #297 Claude Osteen
- #298 Claude Osteen In Action
- #322 Jose Pena
- #369 Jim Lefebvre
- #390 Willie Davis
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #438 card?
It is card #438 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Maury Wills of the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is one of the 72 In Action cards, each numbered right after the same man's card, in six blocks of twelve even numbers, one per series: #32-54, #164-186, #292-314, #426-448, #552-574 and #692-714 (#34 Billy Martin follows his #33 manager card). The backs of the 24 In Action cards in the fifth and sixth series piece together into pictures of Joe Torre and Carl Yastrzemski (fifth series) and Tony Oliva and Tom Seaver (sixth).
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.