1975 Topps #42 Joe Coleman
About Joe Coleman
Joseph Howard Coleman was a bonus baby before the term was common practice: the Washington Senators made him the third overall pick of the first-ever amateur draft in 1965, and his father, ex-big leaguer Joe Coleman Sr., negotiated a club-record $75,000 signing bonus on his behalf. Just months out of Natick (Mass.) High School, the 18-year-old right-hander made his debut that September and threw a four-hitter. Traded to Detroit in the Denny McLain deal after the 1970 season, Coleman anchored the Tigers' rotation, winning 20 games in 1971 (a career-high 236 strikeouts) and 23 in 1973, and throwing a complete-game, 14-strikeout shutout to save Detroit's season in Game 3 of the 1972 ALCS. His lone All-Star selection came in 1972 - joining his father, a 1948 All-Star, as the first father-son pitching duo picked for the game. His 1975 Topps card, issued as his production with Detroit was beginning to fade, caught him in his sixth Tigers season before a 1976 trade to the Cubs; he pitched until 1979, finishing 142-135 with 1,728 strikeouts across 15 major-league seasons, and later became father to major-league pitcher Casey Coleman - the first three-generation pitching family in MLB history.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 334 | 8 | 122 | 166 | 16 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-08-19. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted. The graders do not split the 1975 Topps Mini or O-Pee-Chee issues into this set.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1975 Topps #42 card?
It is card #42 of the 660-card 1975 Topps Baseball set, picturing Joe Coleman.
How many cards are in the 1975 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, numbered 1-660, with no variations and no short prints - PSA reports the cards were printed in equal quantities. The 1975 Topps Mini and the 1975 O-Pee-Chee issues are separate products with their own checklists.
Sources: Trading Card Database, Cardboard Connection, the PSA price guide, 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 2026-10-05.