1973 Topps #560 Frank Howard
About Frank Howard
Howard opened 1972 with the relocated Texas Rangers, hit the franchise's first home run, and was batting .244 with nine homers in 95 games when Detroit bought his contract for the $20,000 waiver price in August. Card #560 in the high-number fifth series of 1973 Topps shows him as a Tiger. As the Tigers' designated hitter in 1973, he batted .256 with 12 home runs and 29 RBI, and Detroit released him that winter.
Frank Oliver Howard, born August 8, 1936 in Columbus, Ohio, was a physically intimidating slugger, listed at 6-foot-7 and 255 pounds and heavier still in later years. An All-American in both basketball and baseball at Ohio State, he was drafted by the NBA's Philadelphia Warriors but signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1958 for a $108,000 bonus. After The Sporting News named him its 1959 Minor League Player of the Year, he took over in right field and won the 1960 National League Rookie of the Year award. He later homered off Whitey Ford in Game 4 of the Dodgers' 1963 World Series sweep. Traded to the Washington Senators in December 1964, he became an everyday player and a popular figure, twice leading the American League in home runs and making four straight All-Star teams from 1968 through 1971. Teammates tagged him "Hondo" after a John Wayne film character; in Washington he added "the Capital Punisher" and "the Washington Monument." His major-league career ended in 1973 with 382 home runs and 1,119 RBIs. He later coached for the Brewers, Mets, Mariners, Yankees and Devil Rays, managed the Padres in 1981 and the Mets in 1983, entered the Washington Nationals Ring of Honor in 2016, and died in 2023 at 87.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 237 | 2 | 29 | 137 | 38 | 16 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 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
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- #5 Ed Brinkman
- #29 Tony Taylor
- #51 Chuck Seelbach
- #88 Mickey Stanley
- #120 Joe Coleman
- #146 Woodie Fryman
- #168 Jim Northrup
- #218 Aurelio Rodriguez
- #256 Chris Zachary
- #280 Al Kaline
- #304 Duke Sims
- #323 Tigers Field Leaders
- #349 Dick McAuliffe
- #369 Lerrin LaGrow
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #560 card?
It is card #560 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Frank Howard of the Detroit Tigers.
Why is #560 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.