1979 Topps #717 Reds Prospects - Mike LaCoss / Ron Oester / Harry Spilman
On this card: Mike LaCoss, Ron Oester, Harry Spilman
About this card
Cards #701-726 are the 26 three-player Prospects cards, one per club - AL clubs first, each league in alphabetical order by city - with black-and-white player photos on the front. A Prospects card is a rookie card for the players on it who had no earlier Topps flagship card. On #703, #705, #712, #718 and #723, one or two of the players never reached the major leagues.
The story on this card
In 1978, his first major league season, LaCoss made 15 starts for Cincinnati and threw 96 innings. His 1979 Topps rookie card, #717, grouped him with fellow Reds prospects Ron Oester and Harry Spilman. He completed 6 games in 1979 while pitching 205 2/3 innings. Giants pitcher Mike LaCoss hit his 2 career home runs in consecutive at-bats in 1986, first against Padres utility player Dane Iorg and then against Reds pitcher Tom Browning.
Oester reached the majors with Cincinnati in September 1978, collecting 3 hits in 8 at-bats and playing shortstop in all 6 of his appearances. His 1979 Topps rookie card, Reds Prospects #717, was shared with fellow Cincinnati prospects Mike LaCoss and Harry Spilman. Reds second baseman Ron Oester drove in Joe Oliver with a pinch-hit single in Game 2 of the 1990 World Series. Cincinnati won 5-4 in 10 innings.
At Triple-A Indianapolis in 1978, Spilman batted .295 with 13 home runs and 79 RBI before a September call-up to Cincinnati. His rookie card is 1979 Topps #717, shared with Mike LaCoss and Ron Oester on the Reds' Prospects card. Spilman played 43 major-league games in 1979. Reds teammates Harry Spilman and Ray Knight grew up 20 miles apart. While in Cincinnati's farm system, they spent $700 on a pitching machine to practice hitting.
Sources: Wikipedia (Mike LaCoss) · Wikipedia (Ron Oester) · Wikipedia (Harry Spilman) · MLB.com · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 160 | 21 | 97 | 32 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 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: #259 Cincinnati Reds / Sparky Anderson
More Cincinnati Reds cards:
- #2 1978 Home Run Leaders
- #3 1978 RBI Leaders
- #20 Joe Morgan
- #47 Fred Norman
- #73 Ken Henderson
- #100 Tom Seaver
- #126 Doug Bair
- #149 Manny Sarmiento
- #174 Rick Auerbach
- #200 Johnny Bench
- #204 Pete Rose
- #220 Cesar Geronimo
- #281 Vic Correll
- #301 Tom Hume
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #717 card?
It is card #717 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mike LaCoss, Ron Oester and Harry Spilman. Cards #701-726 are the 26 three-player Prospects cards, one per club - AL clubs first, each league in alphabetical order by city - with black-and-white player photos on the front. A Prospects card is a rookie card for the players on it who had no earlier Topps flagship card. On #703, #705, #712, #718 and #723, one or two of the players never reached the major leagues.
Is 1979 Topps #717 a rookie card?
Yes - #717 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Mike LaCoss, Ron Oester and Harry Spilman.
How many cards are in the 1979 Topps Baseball set?
726 cards, numbered 1 through 726 with none skipped and issued as a single series, tracked as 727 collectible states: #369 Bump Wills comes with a Rangers or a Blue Jays team banner, and the master set counts both.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA, 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.