1974 Topps #173 Randy Jones
About Randy Jones
Randy Jones's rookie card, #173, came out in the January 1974 set after his 1973 debut, when he went 7-6 with a 3.16 ERA. It exists in two printings: the common San Diego version, and one printed before Ray Kroc's purchase kept the club in town, with the team name given as Washington Nat'l Lea. In 1974 he went 8-22 with a 4.45 ERA, and the Padres scored one run or none in 12 of the losses.
Randy Jones was a left-handed sinkerball pitcher who won the 1976 National League Cy Young Award with the San Diego Padres. A fifth-round pick in 1972 out of Chapman College, he reached the majors in June 1973 after minor-league pitching instructor Warren Hacker taught him a new sinker grip. He lived on location, groundballs and quick work, and finished ten seasons at 100-123 with a 3.42 ERA. In 1975 he became the first 20-game winner in Padres history and finished second to Tom Seaver in the Cy Young vote. In 1976 he started the All-Star Game and tied Christy Mathewson's NL record by pitching 68 innings without a walk. He severed a nerve in his pitching arm in his last start of that season, and surgery ended his peak. The Padres traded him to the Mets in December 1980, and he pitched his last major league games in New York in 1982. The Padres retired his number 35 in 1997, and he was part of the inaugural Padres Hall of Fame class in 1999. He later coached young pitchers, Barry Zito among them, and died in 2025.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Print variations
Two states of #173 are tracked individually: 173a - San Diego (Corrected) and 173b - Washington Nat'l Lea. The difference is on the front of the card (error correction).
States catalogued by the PSA master set registry and the Trading Card Database; each is tracked here individually.
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Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 173a - San Diego (Corrected) | |||||||||
| PSA | 165 | 3 | 40 | 81 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 0 |
| SGC | 14 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 173b - Washington Nat'l Lea. | |||||||||
| PSA | 284 | 7 | 39 | 132 | 49 | 30 | 20 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 22 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 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. Where a grader registers a variation separately its population is listed under that variation.
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Related cards
Team card: #226 San Diego Padres
More San Diego Padres cards:
- #32 John Grubb
- #53 Fred Kendall
- #77 Rich Troedson
- #102 Bill Greif
- #125 Nate Colbert
- #148 Dave Hilton
- #197 Vicente Romo
- #241 Glenn Beckert
- #250 Willie McCovey
- #309 Dave Roberts
- #364 Clarence Gaston
- #387 Rich Morales
- #406 Steve Arlin
- #430 Matty Alou
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1974 Topps #173 card?
It is card #173 of the 660-card 1974 Topps Baseball set, picturing Randy Jones of the San Diego Padres.
Is 1974 Topps #173 a rookie card?
Yes - #173 is the 1974 Topps rookie card of Randy Jones.
Does 1974 Topps #173 have variations?
Yes. Two states are catalogued and tracked individually: 173a - San Diego (Corrected) (The front carries the San Diego team name - the reprint Topps made once the Padres stayed in San Diego, and the common state of the pair. A rookie card in either state) and 173b - Washington Nat'l Lea. (The front names the team "Washington Nat'l Lea." - the first printing, made while the Padres looked set to move to Washington, D.C., and the scarcer state of the pair. A rookie card in either state). Owning any one of them fills the #173 slot; the master set counts each state.
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.