1973 Topps #256 Chris Zachary
About Chris Zachary
Zachary appeared in 25 games for the 1972 Tigers, working 38 1/3 innings with one win and one save. In Game 2 of the ALCS at Oakland he entered in the fifth inning in relief of Woody Fryman with Detroit trailing 1-0, threw two wild pitches, walked Joe Rudi and left without recording an out. His 1973 Topps card is #256, from the second series, and has him with the Tigers.
Chris Zachary was a right-handed pitcher from Knoxville, Tennessee, who spent nine seasons in the majors between 1963 and 1973. Signed by Houston, he made his debut in the Colt .45s' third game of 1963, facing Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda in his first inning of work. He stayed mostly in the minors after his rookie year, resurfacing briefly with the Astros, then moving through the Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates. His best big-league stretch came in 1972, when Detroit called him up from Toledo and he posted a 1.41 ERA out of Billy Martin's bullpen as the Tigers won the AL East. He made his only postseason appearance that fall. He finished with a 10-29 career record and 184 strikeouts, and retired after the 1974 season. He died in his hometown of Knoxville in 2003.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 171 | 8 | 69 | 82 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 3 | 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 card: #191 Detroit Tigers
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #5 Ed Brinkman
- #29 Tony Taylor
- #51 Chuck Seelbach
- #88 Mickey Stanley
- #120 Joe Coleman
- #146 Woodie Fryman
- #168 Jim Northrup
- #218 Aurelio Rodriguez
- #280 Al Kaline
- #304 Duke Sims
- #323 Tigers Field Leaders
- #349 Dick McAuliffe
- #369 Lerrin LaGrow
- #390 Mickey Lolich
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #256 card?
It is card #256 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Chris Zachary of the Detroit Tigers.
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.