1973 Topps #539 Tom Murphy
About Tom Murphy
Murphy no-hit Indianapolis for Triple-A Omaha on August 25, 1972. He went 4-6 with a 2.61 ERA for Omaha and returned to Kansas City in September. His Royals card, 1973 Topps #539, was a fifth-series high number. He opened 1973 back at Omaha before St. Louis acquired him for Al Santorini on May 8.
Tom Murphy was a right-handed pitcher whose 12 major-league seasons took him to the Angels, Royals, Cardinals, Brewers, Red Sox and Blue Jays. At Euclid High School in Ohio, he won 5 of his team's 6 tournament games on the way to the 1963 state championship. He pitched for Bob Wren at Ohio University, going 16-1 over his sophomore and junior seasons. California selected him sixth in the January 1967 secondary draft and arranged weekend flights so he could begin his professional career while finishing college. Brewers manager Del Crandall made Murphy a full-time reliever in 1974; he posted a 1.90 ERA and 20 saves. He finished his big-league career in 1979 with 68 wins, 59 saves and a 3.78 ERA in 439 appearances.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 151 | 4 | 41 | 91 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 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 #539 card?
It is card #539 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tom Murphy of the Kansas City Royals.
Why is #539 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the fifth and last print series, #529-660 - the scarce end of the set.
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.