1973 Topps #294 Steve Arlin
About Steve Arlin
Arlin was hit hard in his first five starts of 1973, a 5.40 ERA, and spent about six weeks in the bullpen. During that stretch majority owner C. Arnholt Smith agreed to sell the club to a group led by Washington grocery-store magnate Joseph Danzansky, who intended to move it to the capital; Arlin said the players were in shock and depressed the rest of the year. He ended 11-14 with a 5.10 ERA, his most wins in a season. Topps numbered his Padres card #294, in the third series.
Steve Arlin was a right-handed starter who pitched for the San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1974, with a stop in Cleveland at the end, and finished dental school in June 1970 along the way. At Ohio State he struck out 20 batters in a 15-inning, 1-0 win over Washington State in the 1965 College World Series, and in 1966 he led the Buckeyes to the title and was named the tournament's most outstanding player. The Phillies took him 13th overall in the 1966 secondary draft, and San Diego selected him in the 1968 expansion draft. He missed spring training in his early seasons for dental school and debuted on June 17, 1969, against the Dodgers. In 1971 he led the National League with 19 losses for the league's worst team, yet on July 25 he closed a three-hit shutout of Pittsburgh by striking out pinch hitter Roberto Clemente. He finished 34-67 with a 4.33 ERA, retired after 1974 and went into dentistry. His grandfather Harold Arlin called the first baseball game broadcast on radio in 1921. Arlin was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008 and died in San Diego in 2016.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 138 | 5 | 58 | 59 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 1 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #294 card?
It is card #294 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Steve Arlin of the San Diego Padres.
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.