1972 Topps #1 World Champions (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Hall of Famers on the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates roster: Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski and Willie Stargell.
About this card
This is one of the 24 team cards, one for each club; every club also has a manager card of its own this year. #1 honors the 1971 World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Texas Rangers, moved from Washington after the 1971 season, appear for the first time, on the #668 team card.
The story on this card
Card #1 opens the 1972 Topps set with the 1971 World Champions, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Danny Murtaugh's club went 97-65 to win the National League East, beat the San Francisco Giants three games to one in the NLCS, then took the Baltimore Orioles in seven games in the World Series. It was the Pirates' first full season at Three Rivers Stadium, which had opened in July 1970, and the team scored 788 runs while allowing 599. The roster included Hall of Famers Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Bill Mazeroski. On September 1 Pittsburgh started Rennie Stennett, Gene Clines, Clemente, Stargell, Manny Sanguillen, Dave Cash, Al Oliver, Jackie Hernandez and Dock Ellis, the first all-black starting lineup in the major leagues. The card was printed in the first series.
Sources: Wikipedia · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 976 | 9 | 73 | 309 | 221 | 143 | 88 | 133 | 0 |
| SGC | 119 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 34 | 27 | 24 | 18 | 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 #1 card?
It is card #1 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing the Pittsburgh Pirates. This is one of the 24 team cards, one for each club; every club also has a manager card of its own this year. #1 honors the 1971 World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates, and the Texas Rangers, moved from Washington after the 1971 season, appear for the first time, on the #668 team card.
Why is #1 the Pittsburgh Pirates team card?
#1 World Champions honors the Pittsburgh Pirates, the 1971 World Champions; the 1971 World Series itself is covered game by game on #223-230, and the Pirates' own 1971 playoff card is #221 "Bucs Champs!".
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.