1977 Topps #617 Bobby Darwin
About Bobby Darwin
Bobby Darwin opened 1976 in Milwaukee and was dealt on June 3, with pitcher Tom Murphy, to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder Bernie Carbo. He hit .179 with 3 home runs and 13 RBI for Boston. The 1977 Red Sox then had Yastrzemski, Lynn, Rice and Evans in the outfield, and Darwin saw little playing time. Card #617 in the 1977 Topps set carries the Red Sox name.
Bobby Darwin broke in with the Los Angeles Angels in 1962 as a 19-year-old right-hander, then spent most of the next decade grinding through the minors as a pitcher whose control problems and a chronically sore arm stalled his progress. A tow-truck-driver encounter with Dodgers executive Al Campanis led to a Rule 5 pickup, and a Spokane manager, Tom Lasorda, talked him into giving up pitching for the outfield. The switch paid off: Darwin became a regular slugger with the Minnesota Twins from 1972 to 1974, hitting 65 home runs and driving in 264 runs over that stretch while also leading the American League in strikeouts each of those three seasons. He closed his playing career in brief stints with the Brewers, Red Sox and Cubs, then spent decades as a Dodgers scout.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 122 | 12 | 68 | 37 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 2 | 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: #309 Boston Red Sox Team
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #25 Dwight Evans
- #60 Jim Rice
- #89 Butch Hobson
- #111 Rico Petrocelli
- #142 Steve Dillard
- #166 Bill Campbell
- #191 Doug Griffin
- #210 Fred Lynn
- #235 Cecil Cooper
- #258 Luis Tiant
- #288 Bob Montgomery
- #336 Denny Doyle
- #358 Tom House
- #396 Tom Murphy
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1977 Topps #617 card?
It is card #617 of the 660-card 1977 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bobby Darwin of the Boston Red Sox.
How many cards are in the 1977 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, numbered 1 through 660 with none skipped and distributed 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.