1977 Topps #648 Jim Spencer
About Jim Spencer
Rewarded with a three-year contract yet left off the 1977 All-Star ballot, Spencer responded with two games of two home runs and eight RBIs each: May 14 against Cleveland and July 2 against Minnesota. He batted .247 with 18 homers and 69 RBIs for the White Sox and took his second Gold Glove. Card #648 carries the Chicago White Sox.
Jim Spencer was a left-handed first baseman who played 15 major-league seasons, 1968 to 1982, with the Angels, Rangers, White Sox, Yankees and Athletics. As a boy he asked Brooks Robinson for fielding tips and was told to keep his glove down near the dirt, and he retired with the highest lifetime fielding percentage of any first baseman. His grandfather, Ben Spencer, had a brief stint in the outfield for the 1913 Washington Senators. Out of Andover High School in suburban Baltimore, he was the Angels' first pick, 11th overall, in the first amateur draft in June 1965. In 1968 he led the Texas League in runs, home runs, RBIs and total bases for El Paso, shared MVP honors and earned a September call-up. He finished with a .250 average, 146 home runs and 599 RBIs. In 1980 he signed a four-year Yankees contract carrying a stipulation that became known as the Spencer Clause. A spring 1981 trade to Pittsburgh for Jason Thompson was voided by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, and on May 20 the Yankees sent him to Oakland with Tom Underwood. The A's released him early in 1982. He died of a heart attack in Fort Lauderdale on February 10, 2002, at 54, the night after playing first base in a charity game.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 77 | 8 | 40 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 1 | 0 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1977 Topps #648 card?
It is card #648 of the 660-card 1977 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Spencer of the Chicago White 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.