1972 Topps #79 Red Sox Rookie Stars - Mike Garman / Cecil Cooper / Carlton Fisk
On this card: Mike Garman, Cecil Cooper, Carlton Fisk
About this card
This is one of the 29 Rookie Stars cards in the 1972 Topps set, each carrying two or three players under a club title (#724, #741 and #761 are league-wide), and all 29 are rookie cards.
The story on this card
Card #79 groups Garman with Cecil Cooper and Carlton Fisk, all printed as Red Sox, and Fisk's rookie card is among the key rookies of the set. Garman's own 1971 consisted of three September starts, including a 3-2 win over Mickey Lolich and the Tigers. He finished 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 18 2/3 innings. Mike Garman was a right-handed reliever drafted third overall by Boston in 1967. He pitched for the Red Sox, Cardinals, Cubs, Dodgers and Expos from 1969 to 1978 and recorded 42 saves.
Cooper spent the start of 1972 at Triple-A Louisville after Boston acquired Danny Cater from the Yankees. He hit .315 there with a league-leading 162 hits, then came up in September for 12 games as the Red Sox finished a half-game short. His rookie card is #79 from the first series, a Red Sox Rookie Stars card with Mike Garman and Carlton Fisk, and Fisk's rookie is a key card of the set. First baseman for Boston and Milwaukee, 1971-87, a .298 hitter with 2,192 hits and five All-Star selections. He led the American League in RBIs in 1980 and 1983, later managed the Astros, and is in the Brewers Walk of Fame.
The Rookie Stars panel on #79 puts three Red Sox together, Mike Garman, Cecil Cooper and Fisk. The first-series card is the rookie card of both Cooper and Fisk and one of the key rookie cards of the set. Fisk earned the spot with a call-up at the end of the 1971 season: 14 games, a .313 average and his first big-league home run, off Detroit's Les Cain at Tiger Stadium on September 12. He opened 1972 as Boston's third-string catcher, took over when Duane Josephson was hurt in the third game, and caught 131 games, batting .293 with 22 home runs. Red Sox and White Sox catcher from 1969 to 1993, the first unanimous American League Rookie of the Year and an 11-time All-Star. His 12th-inning home run won Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. Hall of Fame, 2000.
Sources: Wikipedia (Mike Garman) · Wikipedia (Cecil Cooper) · Wikipedia (Carlton Fisk) · SABR BioProject (Mike Garman) · SABR BioProject (Cecil Cooper) · SABR BioProject (Carlton Fisk) · Baseball-Reference (Carlton Fisk)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 9,039 | 11 | 241 | 1,592 | 1,902 | 1,922 | 1,371 | 1,977 | 23 |
| SGC | 2,619 | 1 | 20 | 144 | 408 | 583 | 678 | 747 | 38 |
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: #328 Boston Red Sox
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- #38 Carl Yastrzemski In Action
- #88 1971 A.L. R.B.I. Leaders
- #113 Rogelio Moret
- #144 Marty Pattin
- #199 Mike Fiore
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #79 card?
It is card #79 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mike Garman, Cecil Cooper and Carlton Fisk. This is one of the 29 Rookie Stars cards in the 1972 Topps set, each carrying two or three players under a club title (#724, #741 and #761 are league-wide), and all 29 are rookie cards.
Is 1972 Topps #79 a rookie card?
Yes - #79 is the rookie card of Cecil Cooper and Carlton Fisk. Mike Garman had already appeared on an earlier Topps card, so it is not his rookie card.
What are the key cards in the 1972 Topps set?
The key cards are #309 Roberto Clemente; the #582 Montreal Expos team card, which PSA's set article calls the hardest card in the set to find in high grade; #79 Red Sox 1972 Rookie Stars, with Carlton Fisk's rookie card - the only Hall of Famer rookie card in the set - beside Mike Garman and Cecil Cooper; #595 Nolan Ryan, the most coveted of its Hall of Famers in PSA's words; and #686 Steve Garvey, which PSA CardFacts names among the hard-to-find high numbers.
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.