1976 Topps #591 Rookie Pitchers - Steve Grilli / Craig Mitchell / Jose Sosa / George Throop
On this card: Steve Grilli, Craig Mitchell, Jose Sosa, George Throop
About this card
Cards #589-599 are the eleven four-player Rookie Prospects cards. A Rookie Prospects card is a rookie card for the players on it who had no earlier Topps flagship card - on #590, #593, #597 and #598 one of the four had already appeared on one, and the rookie-card answer on each card names the players it counts for.
The story on this card
Grilli's 1976 season in Detroit brought 36 relief appearances and a 3-1 record. He had a 4.64 ERA and three saves over 66 innings. He shares card #591 with Craig Mitchell of the Athletics, Jose Sosa of the Astros and George Throop of the Royals, and it is the rookie card for each of the four. Steve Grilli was a Brooklyn-born right-handed reliever who pitched for Detroit and Toronto from 1975 to 1979, finishing 4-3 with a 4.51 ERA in 70 games, and later took the loss in the 33rd inning of the longest professional game.
Mitchell's #591 card is a Rookie Prospects issue shared with Steve Grilli (Tigers), Jose Sosa (Astros) and George Throop (Royals), with Mitchell printed as an Athletic; it is a rookie card for all four. Mitchell debuted on September 25, 1975, starting and losing against the White Sox. He pitched 3 2/3 innings with two strikeouts and a 12.27 ERA. Craig Mitchell, a right-hander from Santa Rosa, California, pitched in five games for the Oakland Athletics between 1975 and 1977, going 0-2 with a 7.82 ERA over 12 2/3 innings after being Oakland's 1973 secondary-phase first-round pick.
Sosa's 1975 rookie year with Houston brought a 4.02 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 25 games. The 1976 Topps #591 Rookie Prospects card groups him, as an Astro, with Steve Grilli of the Tigers, Craig Mitchell of the Athletics and George Throop of the Royals, and it is a rookie card for all four. In 1976 he made nine relief appearances with a 6.94 ERA. Dominican reliever who pitched for the Houston Astros in 1975 and 1976, going 1-3 with a 4.60 ERA. He homered in his first major league plate appearance, a three-run shot off Danny Frisella at the Astrodome.
Throop's rookie card is #591, a four-player Rookie Prospects card shared with Steve Grilli (printed with the Detroit Tigers), Craig Mitchell (Oakland Athletics) and Jose Sosa (Houston Astros); Throop is listed last, with the Kansas City Royals. All four have rookie cards here. His debut came on September 7, 1975. That season he pitched nine innings in seven relief appearances and saved two games. George Throop, a 6-foot-7 right-hander drafted by Kansas City in the 16th round in 1972, relieved for the Royals and later the Astros between 1975 and 1979.
Sources: Wikipedia (Steve Grilli) · Wikipedia (Craig Mitchell) · Wikipedia (George Throop) · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 177 | 17 | 65 | 77 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 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 cards: #361 Detroit Tigers Team, #421 Oakland Athletics Team, #147 Houston Astros Team, #236 Kansas City Royals Team
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1976 Topps #591 card?
It is card #591 of the 660-card 1976 Topps Baseball set, picturing Steve Grilli, Craig Mitchell, Jose Sosa and George Throop. Cards #589-599 are the eleven four-player Rookie Prospects cards. A Rookie Prospects card is a rookie card for the players on it who had no earlier Topps flagship card - on #590, #593, #597 and #598 one of the four had already appeared on one, and the rookie-card answer on each card names the players it counts for.
Is 1976 Topps #591 a rookie card?
Yes - #591 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Steve Grilli, Craig Mitchell, Jose Sosa and George Throop.
How many cards are in the 1976 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, numbered 1 through 660 with none skipped and printed in equal quantities as a single series. No card carries a catalogued print variation, so the base set and the master set are the same 660 cards.
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.