1973 Topps #217 Don Wilson
About Don Wilson
Don Wilson started the Astros' 1972 opener and lost 5-0 to San Francisco, giving up four runs in 7 1/3 innings. He recovered to go 15-10 with a 2.68 ERA and 13 complete games. Manager Harry Walker was fired on August 26 with Houston 67-54, and Leo Durocher replaced him. Card #217, from the second series, shows Wilson with the Astros.
Don Wilson was a hard-throwing right-hander who spent his entire nine-year career with the Houston Astros from 1966 to 1974. A Compton, California product signed out of junior college, he threw two no-hitters. His first, in 1967 at the Astrodome, was the first ever thrown in a domed stadium and ended with a strikeout of Hank Aaron. His second, in 1969 against Cincinnati, came one day after the Reds had no-hit Houston, only the second time in major league history that two teams traded no-hitters on consecutive days. Wilson made his lone All-Star team in 1971, a career year in which he posted a 2.45 ERA and was named Astros MVP. He finished with 104 wins, a 3.15 ERA and 1,283 strikeouts over 266 games. Wilson died in January 1975 at age 29 in a carbon monoxide accident at his Houston home.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 217 | 0 | 17 | 90 | 61 | 21 | 8 | 20 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #217 card?
It is card #217 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Don Wilson of the Houston Astros.
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.