1974 Topps #618 Jim Mason
About Jim Mason
Card #618 still lists the Rangers, though by then he was a Yankee. New York needed a shortstop to compete with Gene Michael after it could not get Larry Bowa from the Phillies, and Mason won the job in the spring. Michael said he was doing much better as the season went on, and Mason put it down to confidence.
Jim Mason was a left-handed-hitting shortstop who played nine seasons, 1971 to 1979, for the Washington Senators and Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos. A Mobile, Alabama, native, he was a second-round pick of the Senators in 1968, and manager Ted Williams called him a can't-miss prospect after a strong 1969 spring. Texas sold him to the Yankees for $100,000 in December 1973, and in 1974 he played 152 games at short and hit .250. On July 8 of that year he hit four doubles against his former club, tying a major-league record. The Yankees reached the 1976 World Series, where Mason homered off Pat Zachry in his only plate appearance, the 500th home run in World Series history. Toronto took him in the 1976 expansion draft, and he was traded back to Texas in 1977. He finished with a .203 average, 12 home runs and 114 RBI in 634 games.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 311 | 11 | 160 | 122 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 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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Related cards
Team card: #184 Texas Rangers
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- #196 Jim Fregosi
- #223 Jeff Burroughs
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- #268 Tom Grieve
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1974 Topps #618 card?
It is card #618 of the 660-card 1974 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Mason of the Texas Rangers.
How many cards are in the 1974 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, tracked as 678 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 660 with none skipped, issued all at once as a single series and printed in equal quantities; 17 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - fourteen San Diego / "Washington Nat'l Lea." pairs (thirteen Padres player cards and the #226 team card), the three-state #599 Rookie Pitchers, the #608 Apodaco misspelling and the #654 Jesus Alou front without a position.
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.