1973 Topps #417 Scipio Spinks
About Scipio Spinks
Spinks arrived at 1973 camp with a stuffed gorilla named Mighty Joe Young, who wore a Cardinals batboy uniform and lived in Spinks's clubhouse locker. He teased autograph seekers by wearing Lou Brock's number 20. On the mound he went 1-5 with a 4.89 ERA in eight starts, hit his only big-league homer off Al Downing, and went on the disabled list June 15 with a shoulder strain. Card #417 carries him with the Cardinals.
Scipio Spinks was a hard-throwing right-hander from Chicago's South Side who pitched for the Astros and Cardinals from 1969 to 1973 before injuries ended his career. Houston signed him in 1966 after a year at Woodrow Wilson Junior College, and that August he struck out 20 in a Northern League game, a league record. He carried his father's name; every firstborn son on that side of the family was a Scipio, after the Roman general who defeated Hannibal. In 35 major-league games he went 7-11 with a 3.70 ERA. He pitched in the Cubs, Yankees and Astros organizations until retiring in 1976, then scouted and coached in the Padres and Astros systems and later became head coach at the University of Houston-Downtown.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 178 | 2 | 67 | 96 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 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: #219 St. Louis Cardinals
More St. Louis Cardinals cards:
- #24 Al Santorini
- #47 Luis Melendez
- #64 1972 Stolen Base Leaders
- #85 Ted Simmons
- #104 Reggie Cleveland
- #128 Ted Sizemore
- #153 Al Hrabosky
- #171 Bernie Carbo
- #190 Bob Gibson
- #241 Dwain Anderson
- #269 Tim McCarver
- #292 Jose Cruz
- #320 Lou Brock
- #364 Rick Wise
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #417 card?
It is card #417 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Scipio Spinks of the St. Louis Cardinals.
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.