1973 Topps #602 Rookie Pitchers - Mel Behney / Ralph Garcia / Doug Rau
On this card: Mel Behney, Ralph Garcia, Doug Rau
About this card
Cards #601-616 are the sixteen three-player 1973 Rookies cards, each titled by position. A Rookies card is a rookie card for the players on it who had no earlier Topps flagship card, and the rookie-card answer on each card names the players it counts for.
The story on this card
Cincinnati traded Behney to Boston during 1973 spring training for pinch hitter Phil Gagliano and outfielder Andy Kosco, both role players on the Reds' 1973 National League West champions. He played one more season at Triple-A before leaving the game. The Rookie Pitchers card #602, a fifth-series high number, still prints him with the Reds, alongside Ralph Garcia with the Padres and Doug Rau with the Dodgers. Garcia and Rau appear on their rookie cards. Mel Behney was a left-handed pitcher from New Jersey who threw 10 innings in five games for the 1970 Cincinnati Reds. An all-Big Ten pick at Michigan State in 1968, he later became a real estate appraiser in Texas.
Three relief appearances for San Diego in 1972 gave Garcia five innings pitched, three strikeouts and a 1.80 ERA. His 1973 Topps rookie card, #602, came from the fifth-series high numbers. The Rookie Pitchers panel grouped him with Cincinnati's Mel Behney and the Dodgers' Doug Rau. Ralph Garcia pitched in relief for San Diego and played in Mexican summer and winter leagues. He won 147 Mexican League games and entered Mexico's Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.
Rau worked mostly in relief for the 1973 Dodgers, appearing in 31 games with 3 starts. He went 4-2 with a 3.96 ERA. He saved 3 games and struck out 51 batters in 63 2/3 innings. His rookie card is #602, a fifth-series high number in the Rookies subset, which he shares with Mel Behney (printed with the Reds) and Ralph Garcia (Padres). Rau is printed with Los Angeles. Left-handed starter who pitched for the Dodgers from 1972 to 1979 and the Angels in 1981, finishing 81-60 with a 3.35 ERA. He joined the rotation in 1974 and pitched in three NL Championship Series and two World Series.
Sources: Wikipedia (Mel Behney) · Wikipedia (Ralph Garcia) · Wikipedia (Doug Rau) · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 208 | 3 | 47 | 121 | 24 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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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Related cards
Team cards: #641 Cincinnati Reds, #316 San Diego Padres, #91 Los Angeles Dodgers
More Cincinnati Reds cards:
- #8 Tom Hall
- #28 Hal McRae
- #52 Denis Menke
- #62 1972 Home Run Leaders
- #63 1972 Runs Batted In Leaders
- #68 1972 Leading Firemen
More San Diego Padres cards:
- #12 Padres Field Leaders
- #32 Fred Norman
- #57 Derrel Thomas
- #83 Leron Lee
- #112 Gary Ross
- #133 Dave Roberts
More Los Angeles Dodgers cards:
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #602 card?
It is card #602 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mel Behney, Ralph Garcia and Doug Rau. Cards #601-616 are the sixteen three-player 1973 Rookies cards, each titled by position. A Rookies card is a rookie card for the players on it who had no earlier Topps flagship card, and the rookie-card answer on each card names the players it counts for.
Is 1973 Topps #602 a rookie card?
Yes - #602 is the rookie card of Ralph Garcia and Doug Rau. Mel Behney had already appeared on an earlier Topps card, so it is not his rookie card.
Is Ralph Garr on #602?
No. #602 1973 Rookie Pitchers pictures Mel Behney, Ralph Garcia and Doug Rau. BaseballCardPedia prints "Ralph Garr" on its #602 line, but Ralph Garr is a different player, with his own card in the set at #15.
Why is #602 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the fifth and last print series, #529-660 - the scarce end of the set.
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.