1973 Topps #31 Buddy Bell
About Buddy Bell
Bell hit .255 with 9 home runs as a rookie in 1972. In 1973 he batted .268 with 14 homers and 59 RBI. In his first All-Star Game, on July 24 at Kansas City's Royals Stadium, he pinch-hit for Bert Blyleven and tripled off Claude Osteen to open the third inning. His first-series Indians rookie card, #31, carried the Topps All-Star Rookie trophy.
Buddy Bell was a third baseman for 18 seasons with Cleveland, Texas, Cincinnati and Houston, a five-time All-Star who won six consecutive Gold Gloves from 1979 to 1984. The son of Reds outfielder Gus Bell, he was drafted by Cleveland in 1969 and debuted on April 15, 1972, in right field before settling at third. Cleveland traded him to Texas for Toby Harrah after the 1978 season, and in 1979 he drove in a career-high 101 runs; in 1980 he hit .329. On August 31, 1984, he hit a two-out, walk-off grand slam against Milwaukee, the 16th ultimate grand slam in major league history. He added a Silver Slugger in 1984, reached 2,000 hits in 1985, and finished with 2,514 hits, 201 home runs and 1,106 RBI in 2,405 games. The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award came in 1988. He later managed Detroit, Colorado and Kansas City for three seasons each, and his sons Mike and David both reached the majors; David became manager of the Reds.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Retrosheet · BaseballCardPedia · Trading Card Database
Print variations
Two states of #31 are tracked individually: 31a - Gap In Right Border and 31b - No Gap In Border. The difference is on the front of the card (print flaw).
States catalogued by the PSA master set registry and the Trading Card Database; each is tracked here individually.
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Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31a - Gap In Right Border | |||||||||
| PSA | 119 | 0 | 15 | 46 | 16 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 0 |
| SGC | 54 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| 31b - No Gap In Border | |||||||||
| PSA | 304 | 2 | 62 | 120 | 51 | 31 | 21 | 17 | 0 |
| Not designated by PSA | |||||||||
| PSA | 215 | 3 | 49 | 121 | 31 | 8 | 3 | 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. Where a grader registers a variation separately its population is listed under that variation; PSA slabs whose label names no variation are listed as not designated, while SGC slabs whose label names no variation are counted under 31a - Gap In Right Border.
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Related cards
Team card: #629 Cleveland Indians
More Cleveland Indians cards:
- #11 Chris Chambliss
- #53 Steve Dunning
- #66 1972 Victory Leaders
- #86 Tom McCraw
- #134 Milt Wilcox
- #157 Denny Riddleberger
- #181 Jack Brohamer
- #226 Ray Fosse
- #247 Del Unser
- #272 Ed Farmer
- #297 Walt Williams
- #327 John Lowenstein
- #339 Dick Tidrow
- #346 Gaylord Perry
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #31 card?
It is card #31 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Buddy Bell of the Cleveland Indians.
Is 1973 Topps #31 a rookie card?
Yes - #31 is the 1973 Topps rookie card of Buddy Bell.
Does 1973 Topps #31 have variations?
Yes. Two states are catalogued and tracked individually: 31a - Gap In Right Border (A small gap breaks the black frame line on the right side of the photo - the error printing. Bell's card carries the All-Star Rookie Cup and is his rookie card in either state) and 31b - No Gap In Border (The black frame line on the right side of the photo is unbroken - the corrected printing. Bell's card carries the All-Star Rookie Cup and is his rookie card in either state). Owning any one of them fills the #31 slot; the master set counts each state.
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.