1973 Topps #319 Jim Spencer
About Jim Spencer
Spencer began 1973 as an Angel and on May 20 went to Texas with Lloyd Allen for Mike Epstein, Rich Hand and Rick Stelmaszek. Hitting .300 for the Rangers, he was named to the American League All-Star team and flew out in his one at-bat. He finished at .262 with six homers and one error in 125 games at first. Card #319 still shows him with the California Angels.
Jim Spencer was a left-handed first baseman who played 15 major-league seasons, 1968 to 1982, with the Angels, Rangers, White Sox, Yankees and Athletics. As a boy he asked Brooks Robinson for fielding tips and was told to keep his glove down near the dirt, and he retired with the highest lifetime fielding percentage of any first baseman. His grandfather, Ben Spencer, had a brief stint in the outfield for the 1913 Washington Senators. Out of Andover High School in suburban Baltimore, he was the Angels' first pick, 11th overall, in the first amateur draft in June 1965. In 1968 he led the Texas League in runs, home runs, RBIs and total bases for El Paso, shared MVP honors and earned a September call-up. He finished with a .250 average, 146 home runs and 599 RBIs. In 1980 he signed a four-year Yankees contract carrying a stipulation that became known as the Spencer Clause. A spring 1981 trade to Pittsburgh for Jason Thompson was voided by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, and on May 20 the Yankees sent him to Oakland with Tom Underwood. The A's released him early in 1982. He died of a heart attack in Fort Lauderdale on February 10, 2002, at 54, the night after playing first base in a charity game.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 146 | 5 | 37 | 88 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 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: #243 California Angels
More California Angels cards:
- #18 Leroy Stanton
- #36 Steve Barber
- #67 1972 Strikeout Leaders
- #75 Vada Pinson
- #102 Rudy May
- #123 Sandy Alomar
- #154 Jeff Torborg
- #175 Frank Robinson
- #178 Don Rose
- #220 Nolan Ryan
- #267 Lloyd Allen
- #279 Mike Strahler
- #289 Bob Oliver
- #301 Billy Grabarkewitz
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #319 card?
It is card #319 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Spencer of the California Angels.
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.