1973 Topps #68 1972 Leading Firemen - Clay Carroll / Sparky Lyle
On this card: Clay Carroll, Sparky Lyle
About this card
Cards #61-68 are the League Leaders subset: the 1972 leaders in batting, home runs, runs batted in, stolen bases, earned run average, victories and strikeouts, and the leading firemen (#68), each card naming the National League leader first.
The story on this card
The relief-pitching board closes the League Leaders subset in 1973 Topps, card #68 in the first series. Clay Carroll, printed with the Cincinnati Reds, led the National League with 37 saves in 1972 and pitched in 65 games with a 2.25 ERA. Sparky Lyle, printed with the New York Yankees, led the American League with 35 saves in his first season after a spring training trade from Boston, working 59 games with a 1.92 ERA. Lyle's total set an American League record and a major-league mark for left-handers; Carroll's 37 was a major-league record when he set it and stood as the National League record until 1984. The Sporting News named both men its Fireman of the Year for 1972, and Carroll also made the National League All-Star team.
Clay Carroll - a Clanton, Alabama mill worker's son turned Reds reliever, nicknamed Hawk, who led the National League with 37 saves in 1972 and won a game in both the 1970 and 1975 World Series. A three-time All-Star reliever who logged 238 saves and a 2.88 ERA across 16 seasons, Sparky Lyle won the 1977 AL Cy Young Award and helped the Yankees capture back-to-back World Series titles.
Sources: Wikipedia (Clay Carroll) · Wikipedia (Sparky Lyle) · SABR BioProject (Clay Carroll) · SABR BioProject (Sparky Lyle) · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 291 | 14 | 94 | 139 | 24 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 9 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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 cards: #641 Cincinnati Reds, #556 New York Yankees
More Cincinnati Reds cards:
- #8 Tom Hall
- #28 Hal McRae
- #52 Denis Menke
- #62 1972 Home Run Leaders
- #63 1972 Runs Batted In Leaders
- #89 Jack Billingham
More New York Yankees cards:
- #1 All-Time Home Run Leaders
- #25 Roy White
- #46 Lindy McDaniel
- #82 Fritz Peterson
- #103 Celerino Sanchez
- #116 Yankees Field Leaders
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #68 card?
It is card #68 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Clay Carroll and Sparky Lyle. Cards #61-68 are the League Leaders subset: the 1972 leaders in batting, home runs, runs batted in, stolen bases, earned run average, victories and strikeouts, and the leading firemen (#68), each card naming the National League leader first.
How many cards are in the 1973 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, tracked as 679 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 660 with none skipped, in five series of 132 - #1-132, #133-264, #265-396, #397-528 and the high numbers, #529-660, printed in lower quantities; 19 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - fifteen Field Leaders cards, the #20 Stan Bahnsen, #31 Buddy Bell and #504 Earl Williams border-gap pairs and the two #280 Al Kaline printings.
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.