1972 Topps #533 Ralph Houk
About this card
Every club has a manager card of its own this year, separate from the 24 team cards, and every one of the 24 manager cards pictures the manager alone. Nine of them are Hall of Famers, and #510 Ted Williams manages the Texas Rangers in their first season after the move from Washington.
About Ralph Houk
Houk received a new three-year contract during 1972. In September, with 20 games left, he described a four-team American League East race and warned that a losing streak of 4 or 5 games could end a contender's chances. Topps #533, a fifth-series manager card, listed him with the Yankees.
Ralph Houk managed the Yankees, Tigers and Red Sox for 20 major league seasons, finishing with 1,619 wins and 1,531 losses. He led New York to three pennants and two World Series championships. He had signed with New York in 1938, but World War II interrupted his minor league career. His Army service brought a Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart; the rank he held at discharge supplied his baseball nickname, the Major. Houk spent 8 seasons as a Yankees catcher, batting .272 in 91 games from 1947 through 1954. He managed the Denver Bears from 1955 through 1957, winning the Junior World Series in his final season there, then returned to New York as Casey Stengel's first-base coach. His later front-office work included a role with Minnesota during its 1987 championship season.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 200 | 1 | 22 | 96 | 46 | 16 | 8 | 11 | 0 |
| SGC | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 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
Team card: #237 New York Yankees
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- #48 John Ellis In Action
- #86 1971 A.L. Batting Leaders
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- #124 Yankees 1972 Rookie Stars
- #138 Mike Kekich
- #158 Jerry Kenney
- #203 Ron Blomberg
- #263 Felipe Alou
- #287 Jim Hardin
- #325 Mel Stottlemyre
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #533 card?
It is card #533 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ralph Houk of the New York Yankees. Every club has a manager card of its own this year, separate from the 24 team cards, and every one of the 24 manager cards pictures the manager alone. Nine of them are Hall of Famers, and #510 Ted Williams manages the Texas Rangers in their first season after the move from Washington.
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.