1973 Topps #17 Fred Gladding
About Fred Gladding
Gladding was the Opening Day winner in 1973, getting the last out of the bottom of the 12th in relief before the Astros scored in the top of the 13th to beat Atlanta 2-1. He made 16 relief appearances that season and went 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA. His last major league game came on June 2, and that month he accepted an assignment to Triple-A Denver. Card #17 is a first-series issue and pictures him with Houston.
Fred Gladding was a right-handed relief pitcher who spent thirteen major league seasons, 1961 to 1973, with the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros. Born in Flat Rock, Michigan, he signed with the Tigers in 1956 and spent six seasons working through their minor league system before debuting in 1961. Teammates nicknamed him "The Bear" during his minor league days in Birmingham, after catcher Ron Witucki noticed how he stomped around the mound when angry. Detroit catcher Bill Freehan later called him "Little Monster." A sinkerball pitcher who ran the ball in on right-handed hitters, Gladding worked out of the Tigers bullpen through the 1960s until a deal made in August 1967 for Eddie Mathews sent him to Houston. With the Astros he led the National League in saves in 1969, the first year saves were officially counted. He finished his career with a 48-34 record, a 3.13 ERA, and 109 saves in 450 games. He also holds the lowest non-zero career batting average in major league history, .016.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 159 | 5 | 74 | 67 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 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
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #17 card?
It is card #17 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Fred Gladding 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.