1976 Topps #545 Sparky Lyle
About Sparky Lyle
Lyle's Yankees card #545 followed a 1975 season of 49 relief appearances, a 5-7 record and a 3.12 ERA. He recorded 6 saves and pitched 89 1/3 innings. In 1976 he led the American League with 23 saves and earned an All-Star selection.
Sparky Lyle pitched all 899 games of his 16-season major league career in relief. He finished with 238 saves, a 2.88 ERA and a 99-76 record. The left-hander played for Boston, the Yankees, Texas, Philadelphia and the White Sox. Baltimore signed him in 1964, and Boston selected him in the first-year draft that November. Ted Williams described the slider to Lyle at spring training in 1966; Lyle worked out how to throw it and made it his principal pitch. With New York, he became the first American League reliever to win the Cy Young Award in 1977. He coauthored "The Bronx Zoo" with Peter Golenbock in 1979. From 1998 through 2012, he managed the Somerset Patriots, winning five Atlantic League championships.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 215 | 13 | 78 | 98 | 14 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 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: #17 New York Yankees Team
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- #146 George Medich
- #169 Graig Nettles
- #192 1975 AL Batting Leaders
- #200 1975 AL Victory Leaders
- #202 1975 AL ERA Leaders
- #225 Roy White
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1976 Topps #545 card?
It is card #545 of the 660-card 1976 Topps Baseball set, picturing Sparky Lyle of the New York Yankees.
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.