1972 Topps #178 Paul Schaal 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 Paul Schaal In Action
Schaal played all 161 Kansas City games at third base in 1971 and drew a club-record 103 walks, though his 28 errors led the American League. At Fenway Park he batted .375 as the Royals won all six games there, the first time in 16 years the Red Sox had been swept at home. In March 1972 he negotiated a sizable raise, and 1972 brought a .228 average in 127 games. Topps gave him two second-series cards, #177 and an In Action card, #178, both with Kansas City.
Paul Schaal was a third baseman who spent 11 major league seasons with the Los Angeles/California Angels and the Kansas City Royals. Signed by the Angels out of high school in Compton, California, he climbed through their farm system and broke in as a slick-fielding rookie regular in 1965. Injuries and platoon duty followed, including a beaning above the left ear at Fenway Park in June 1968 that fractured his skull and caused permanent hearing loss. Left unprotected, he was drafted by the expansion Royals that fall and became their everyday third baseman, peaking with a .288 average in 1973 and a career-high 11 home runs in 1971. He finished his career back with the Angels in 1974 after Kansas City handed third base to a young George Brett. Schaal later ran a pizza restaurant in Kansas City before earning a chiropractic degree and practicing in the area. He died in 2017.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 187 | 1 | 15 | 78 | 48 | 19 | 17 | 9 | 0 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 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 Paul Schaal in this set: #177 Paul Schaal
Team card: #617 Kansas City Royals
More Kansas City Royals cards:
- #10 Amos Otis
- #57 Bob Oliver
- #68 Jim York
- #81 Mike Hedlund
- #109 Jerry May
- #133 Joe Keough
- #177 Paul Schaal
- #205 Dick Drago
- #246 Tom Burgmeier
- #273 Bobby Floyd
- #315 Paul Splittorff
- #332 Buck Martinez
- #349 Al Fitzmorris
- #372 Royals 1972 Rookie Stars
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #178 card?
It is card #178 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Paul Schaal of the Kansas City Royals. 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.