1972 Topps #683 Steve Hovley
About Steve Hovley
Back in the majors with Kansas City, Hovley played 105 games in 1972 and batted .270 with 3 home runs. He played the outfield in 68 of them. His #683 card, from the sixth series, lists him with the Royals in his first season with the club.
Steve Hovley was a left-handed-hitting outfielder who played in the majors from 1969 to 1973 for the Seattle Pilots, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals. Born in Ventura, California, he attended Stanford, was drafted by the California Angels in the 35th round in 1966, and went to the Pilots in the 1968 expansion draft. He hit .277 with 3 home runs in 91 games as a 1969 Pilots rookie and roomed with pitcher Jim Bouton, whose diary of that season, Ball Four, became a national sensation a year later. Other players called him Orbie, short for Orbit, because his behavior seemed so spacey, and Hovley said he liked the name. After Oakland, the Royals took him in the 1971 Rule 5 draft and he spent two seasons as their fourth outfielder. He finished with 263 hits and a .258 average in 436 games.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 203 | 3 | 24 | 108 | 42 | 18 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #683 card?
It is card #683 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Steve Hovley of the Kansas City Royals.
Why is #683 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the sixth and last print series, #657-787 - with the fifth series, the toughest to find, per PSA.
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.