1965 Topps #278 Ken Retzer
About Ken Retzer
1965 Topps #278 comes from the set's fourth series; it pictures Retzer with the Minnesota Twins. Washington had traded him there on October 15, 1964, for catcher Joe McCabe, and the Twins, long hunting a left-handed-hitting backup catcher, brought him to camp as a non-roster invitee. He lost the spot to 22-year-old John Sevcik and, a week before Opening Day, was assigned to Denver of the Pacific Coast League, where he did most of the catching alongside Ron Henry. He never played a major-league game for Minnesota; moves to the Houston and Cleveland organizations followed, and he finished at Rochester in 1967.
Kenneth Leo Retzer was born April 30, 1934, in Wood River, Illinois, the youngest of seven children, and went to high school at Wellsville, Missouri. He was arguably the better basketball player, taking a hoops scholarship to Jefferson City Junior College and then Central Missouri State, but he never finished school and moved behind the plate full time after a coach told him catching was the fastest road to the pros. Cleveland scout Johnny Schulte signed him in 1954; he hit .307 in his first pro season at Class D Tifton, lost 1957 to the Army, and reached Triple-A San Diego of the Pacific Coast League, where a strong throwing arm never quite answered the questions about the rest of his defense. On September 6, 1961, Cleveland traded him to the expansion Washington Senators for a player to be named later, and three days later he doubled off Jack Fisher in his first big-league at-bat. All four of his major-league seasons were spent in Washington: 237 games, 182 hits, 14 home runs, 72 RBIs, a .264 average, and 48 of 126 base stealers thrown out. His professional career ran thirteen seasons. He died May 17, 2020, in Sun City, Arizona, at 86.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 234 | 1 | 32 | 119 | 50 | 14 | 12 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 11 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted. The two checklist variations, #79 and #508, are listed under the wording PSA uses for each state.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1965 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #24 Minnesota Twins
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #1 American League 1964 Batting Leaders
- #3 American League 1964 Home Run Leaders
- #5 American League 1964 RBI Leaders
- #11 American League 1964 Strikeout Leaders
- #39 Gerry Arrigo
- #62 Jim Kaat
- #90 Rich Rollins
- #108 Don Mincher
- #122 Bill Pleis
- #157 Zoilo Versalles
- #171 Jim Roland
- #180 Bob Allison
- #201 Twins 1965 Rookie Stars
- #216 Al Worthington
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #278 card?
It is card #278 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ken Retzer of the Minnesota Twins.
How many cards are in the 1965 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 600 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps and no printed-number collisions, and two checklist cards - #79 and #508 - carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, 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 2026-10-11.