1973 Topps #492 Pedro Borbon
About Pedro Borbon
Borbon pitched in 80 games in 1973, in many ways the best year of his career on the mound. He went 11-4 with 14 saves and a 2.16 ERA. In the NLCS against the Mets he won Game 1 and saved Game 4. During the Game 3 brawl at Shea Stadium he picked up what he thought was his cap, found it was a Mets hat, and bit it. His card is #492, from the fourth series.
Pedro Borbon was a Dominican right-handed reliever who pitched for the Cincinnati Reds from 1970 to 1979, the core years of the Big Red Machine. He appeared in more games than any other National Leaguer between 1970 and 1978 and ranked in the league's top five in games pitched six straight seasons from 1972 to 1977, throwing at least 121 innings in each. He went 69-39 with a 3.52 ERA and 80 saves in his career, including 18 saves in 1977. The Reds won the World Series in 1975 and 1976. Borbon was also known for his temper: in a 1974 brawl he bit Pittsburgh's Daryl Patterson. The Angels, Giants and Cardinals were his other clubs, and he was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2010. He died in Pharr, Texas, in 2012.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 216 | 14 | 103 | 78 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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: #641 Cincinnati Reds
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- #89 Jack Billingham
- #130 Pete Rose
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- #177 Bill Plummer
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- #202 N.L. Playoffs: Foster's Run Decides It
- #205 World Series Game No. 3: Reds Win Squeaker
- #208 World Series Game No. 6: Reds' Slugging Ties Series
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #492 card?
It is card #492 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Pedro Borbon of the Cincinnati Reds.
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.