1969 Topps #121 Joe Grzenda
About Joe Grzenda
Grzenda spent 1969 with the Minnesota Twins, appearing in 38 games out of the bullpen and going 4-1 with three saves and a 3.88 ERA, then making an ALCS appearance as Minnesota fell to Baltimore in a three-game sweep. His 1969 Topps card, #121, issued in the set's second print series, is a recognized rookie card and shows him with the Twins.
Joe Grzenda was a left-handed sidearm relief pitcher from Scranton, Pennsylvania who spent eight major league seasons between 1961 and 1972 with the Tigers, Athletics, Mets, Twins, Senators and Cardinals. Standing 6-foot-2 and pitching almost exclusively out of the bullpen, he worked 219 games and finished with a 14-13 record, a 4.00 ERA and 14 saves over 308 innings, his best year coming in 1971 for Washington when he went 5-2 with a 1.92 ERA. He pitched briefly for Minnesota in the 1969 ALCS. Grzenda is remembered for a strange bit of franchise history: on September 30, 1971, pitching for the Washington Senators in their final home game before the move to Texas, he was two outs from finishing the game when fans stormed the RFK Stadium field, forcing a forfeit. Thirty-four years later he returned to RFK and handed President George W. Bush the ceremonial first-pitch ball when baseball returned to Washington. He died in 2019.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 221 | 1 | 26 | 114 | 59 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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.
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Related cards
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #1 American League 1968 Batting Leaders
- #30 Bob Allison
- #56 Rich Reese
- #77 Ron Perranoski
- #99 Twins 1969 Rookie Stars
- #146 Jim Perry
- #194 Ted Uhlaender
- #218 John Roseboro
- #242 Frank Kostro
- #265 Chico Cardenas
- #290 Jim Kaat
- #317 Bruce Look
- #336 Jim Roland
- #356 Frank Quilici
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #121 card?
It is card #121 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Joe Grzenda of the Minnesota Twins.
Is 1969 Topps #121 a rookie card?
Yes - #121 is the 1969 Topps rookie card of Joe Grzenda.
How many cards are in the 1969 Topps Baseball set?
664 cards, tracked as 696 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 664 with none skipped and no printed number shared by two cards; 32 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately, 23 of them the yellow- and white-letter name pairs of #440-511.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, 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 2026-10-12.