1969 Topps #21 Jose Santiago
About Jose Santiago
Printed in series 1 with Santiago still a Boston Red Sox, this card arrived as he tried to rebuild from elbow surgery after reinjuring the joint that spring. He worked his way back through Triple-A Louisville before returning to Boston for a limited ten-game relief stint late in the season.
Jose Santiago was a right-handed pitcher from Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico, who threw an outstanding curveball across eight big-league seasons with the Kansas City Athletics and Boston Red Sox from 1963 to 1970. Originally scouted by the Giants, he returned home and signed with the Athletics for $15,000 after the Giants failed to pay his promised bonus. He broke in against the reigning champion Yankees in September 1963 and worked mostly as a reliever in Kansas City before the Athletics sold his contract to Boston. In Boston he became a key member of the 1967 pennant-winning staff, going 12-4 and starting Game 1 of that year's World Series against Bob Gibson, homering in his first Series plate appearance. Elbow tendinitis that ended his 1968 season in July, followed by a torn elbow ligament and surgery in 1969, derailed the rest of his career. He later became a longtime Spanish-language play-by-play broadcaster and general manager for the Santurce Crabbers in Puerto Rico.
Sources: Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 217 | 1 | 21 | 95 | 48 | 19 | 20 | 13 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 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.
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Related cards
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #1 American League 1968 Batting Leaders
- #3 American League 1968 RBI Leaders
- #5 American League 1968 Home Run Leaders
- #52 Mike Andrews
- #89 Russ Gibson
- #109 Jim Lonborg
- #130 Carl Yastrzemski
- #148 Lee Stange
- #172 Jerry Stephenson
- #189 Red Sox 1969 Rookie Stars
- #215 Rico Petrocelli
- #240 Ken Harrelson
- #264 Bill Landis
- #287 Jose Tartabull
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #21 card?
It is card #21 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jose Santiago of the Boston Red Sox.
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.