1973 Topps #511 Sam McDowell
About Sam McDowell
Topps gave McDowell two 1973 cards as a Giant: #342 from the third series, in the Boyhood Photos of the Stars subset, and #511 from the fourth. In 1972 he struck out 122 batters in 25 starts. His 6.7 strikeouts per nine innings were the lowest of his career to that point. San Francisco sold him to the Yankees in a straight cash deal on June 7, 1973, after he had gone 1-2 with three saves for the Giants.
Sam McDowell, born September 21, 1942 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was a hard-throwing left-handed pitcher who spent fifteen major league seasons, 1961 through 1975, mostly with the Cleveland Indians. Rated the country's top schoolboy prospect out of Pittsburgh's Central Catholic High School, he signed with Cleveland in 1960 for a $75,000 bonus and reached the majors six days before his 19th birthday. A six-time All-Star, he led the American League in strikeouts five times and won the 1965 ERA title. In 1970 he topped 300 innings and 300 strikeouts while going 20-12, earning The Sporting News AL Pitcher of the Year award. Control trouble shadowed all of it - he led the league in walks five times as well - and injuries and alcoholism wore down the back end of his career through stops with the Giants, Yankees and Pirates. He retired with a 141-134 record, a 3.17 ERA and 2,453 strikeouts. He got sober in the early 1980s, earned associate degrees in sports psychology and addiction at the University of Pittsburgh, and later worked as an addiction counselor for the Rangers and Blue Jays. He is a member of the Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame, the franchise's own team hall.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 196 | 1 | 44 | 109 | 25 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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
More Sam McDowell in this set: #342 Boyhood Photos
Team card: #434 San Francisco Giants
More San Francisco Giants cards:
- #23 Dave Kingman
- #43 Randy Moffitt
- #79 Jim Willoughby
- #101 Ken Henderson
- #121 Dave Rader
- #145 Bobby Bonds
- #167 Steve Stone
- #197 Ed Goodson
- #236 Tito Fuentes
- #248 Jerry Johnson
- #252 Giants Field Leaders
- #273 Chris Speier
- #298 Ron Bryant
- #322 Garry Maddox
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #511 card?
It is card #511 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Sam McDowell of the San Francisco Giants.
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.