1973 Topps #435 Rico Carty
About Rico Carty
Texas manager Whitey Herzog saw Rico Carty as his designated hitter, but Carty wanted to play defense. He lost his lineup spot after hitting .203, and in June he nearly fought Herzog, accusing him of not backing him in an umpire dispute. Fourth-series #435 lists him with the Rangers; he was hitting .232 when the Cubs acquired him on waivers on August 13. A personality clash with Ron Santo led Chicago to trade him to Oakland a month later, and the A's released him in December.
Rico Carty, a Dominican outfielder from San Pedro de Macoris, played fifteen big-league seasons (1963-1979) for the Braves, Rangers, Cubs, Athletics, Indians and Blue Jays, retiring with a .299 career average, 1,677 hits, 204 home runs and 890 RBI. Signed by Milwaukee out of the 1959 Pan American Games, he broke in with a 1964 rookie season and became a fixture in Atlanta's outfield after the franchise moved south. Carty won the 1970 National League batting title at .366, the majors' best mark since 1957, and was elected to that year's All-Star Game as the first write-in starter in major-league history. His career was repeatedly interrupted by injuries and a bout with tuberculosis that cost him the entire 1968 season, yet he returned to help Atlanta capture the 1969 NL West title, its first division crown. In 1996 he was inducted into the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 226 | 5 | 72 | 126 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #435 card?
It is card #435 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Rico Carty of the Texas Rangers.
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.