1973 Topps #226 Ray Fosse
About Ray Fosse
Cleveland traded Fosse and shortstop Jack Heidemann to Oakland on March 24, 1973, for George Hendrick and Dave Duncan. Gaylord Perry, shocked by the news, asked why the club would trade "our quarterback." Fosse was thrilled to join the reigning world champions, with Oakland only 40 miles from his wife Carol's hometown of Tracy. His #226, from the second series, is printed with the Indians. In 143 games for the A's he hit .256 with 7 home runs.
Ray Fosse was a catcher who broke in with the Cleveland Indians in 1967 and spent parts of twelve big league seasons, twice making the All-Star team and twice winning a Gold Glove behind the plate. His best offensive stretch came in 1970, when he hit .313 with 16 home runs in the season's first half before a home-plate collision at the All-Star Game left him with a fractured and separated shoulder that was not properly diagnosed until the following year. Traded to the Oakland Athletics in 1973, he became the regular catcher for back-to-back World Series championship clubs in 1973 and 1974, guiding a pitching staff built around Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue and Ken Holtzman. Injuries marked his career throughout. He later returned to Cleveland, then played for Seattle and Milwaukee, and his last game came in 1979. He spent decades afterward as a television color commentator for the Athletics.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 229 | 5 | 77 | 117 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 9 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 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: #629 Cleveland Indians
More Cleveland Indians cards:
- #11 Chris Chambliss
- #31 Buddy Bell
- #53 Steve Dunning
- #66 1972 Victory Leaders
- #86 Tom McCraw
- #134 Milt Wilcox
- #157 Denny Riddleberger
- #181 Jack Brohamer
- #247 Del Unser
- #272 Ed Farmer
- #297 Walt Williams
- #327 John Lowenstein
- #339 Dick Tidrow
- #346 Gaylord Perry
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #226 card?
It is card #226 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ray Fosse of the Cleveland Indians.
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.