1973 Topps #67 1972 Strikeout Leaders - Steve Carlton / Nolan Ryan
On this card: Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan
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
One league leader from each circuit shares 1973 Topps #67, the strikeout board in the League Leaders subset, from the first series. Steve Carlton of the Phillies led the National League with 310 strikeouts in 346 1/3 innings, the year he arrived from St. Louis. Nolan Ryan of the Angels led the American League with 329, nearly a third more than the runner-up, in his first season in California after the Mets traded him for Jim Fregosi. It was the fourth-highest strikeout total of the 20th century to that point, and Ryan topped it in 1973 with 383. He went 19-16 with a 2.28 ERA in 1972, while Carlton went 27-10 with a 1.97 ERA.
Phillies left-hander Steve Carlton included martial arts and meditation in his training. One exercise involved twisting his fist down through a five-gallon bucket of rice. He worked with trainer Gus Hoefling on his conditioning routine. Nolan Ryan was the flame-throwing "Ryan Express," a Mets farmhand who became baseball's all-time strikeout king, setting career records for strikeouts (5,714) and no-hitters (seven) over 27 seasons with the Mets, Angels, Astros and Rangers.
Sources: Wikipedia (Steve Carlton) · Wikipedia (Nolan Ryan) · SABR BioProject (Steve Carlton) · SABR BioProject (Nolan Ryan) · National Baseball Hall of Fame · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 2,106 | 16 | 210 | 617 | 432 | 357 | 212 | 258 | 4 |
| SGC | 437 | 0 | 15 | 63 | 85 | 96 | 82 | 94 | 2 |
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: #536 Philadelphia Phillies, #243 California Angels
More Philadelphia Phillies cards:
- #3 Jim Lonborg
- #6 Mac Scarce
- #37 Bill Robinson
- #65 1972 Earned Run Average Leaders
- #66 1972 Victory Leaders
- #97 Willie Montanez
More California Angels cards:
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #67 card?
It is card #67 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Steve Carlton and Nolan Ryan. 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.