1972 Topps #470 Ray Fosse
About Ray Fosse
Fosse felt healthy in 1972, fully recovered from earlier injuries, yet his average slipped to .241 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI. Behind the plate he caught Gaylord Perry's first season in Cleveland, a 24-16 year with a 1.92 ERA that brought the club its first Cy Young Award. Perry credited Fosse with pushing him through games when his stuff was poor. Topps listed him at #470 in the fourth series, with the Indians.
Ray Fosse was a catcher who broke in with the Cleveland Indians in 1967 and spent parts of twelve big league seasons, twice making the All-Star team and twice winning a Gold Glove behind the plate. His best offensive stretch came in 1970, when he hit .313 with 16 home runs in the season's first half before a home-plate collision at the All-Star Game left him with a fractured and separated shoulder that was not properly diagnosed until the following year. Traded to the Oakland Athletics in 1973, he became the regular catcher for back-to-back World Series championship clubs in 1973 and 1974, guiding a pitching staff built around Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue and Ken Holtzman. Injuries marked his career throughout. He later returned to Cleveland, then played for Seattle and Milwaukee, and his last game came in 1979. He spent decades afterward as a television color commentator for the Athletics.
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 | 58 | 105 | 20 | 11 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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: #547 Cleveland Indians
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- #193 Kurt Bevacqua
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- #261 Steve Mingori
- #285 Gaylord Perry
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- #374 Jack Heidemann
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #470 card?
It is card #470 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ray Fosse of the Cleveland Indians.
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.