1969 Topps #74 Preston Gomez
About this card
This is one of the 25 manager cards in the 1969 Topps set - one for each of the 24 clubs, with Washington twice (#294 Jim Lemon, the outgoing manager, and #650 Ted Williams, hired that February). Nine of the 25 are Hall of Famers.
About Preston Gomez
1969 Topps #74 pictures Preston Gomez as manager of the San Diego Padres, the first skipper in franchise history, in the club's inaugural major league season. Bavasi, the Dodgers executive who became Padres president, hired Gomez off the Los Angeles third-base coaching line in August 1968 to lead the expansion club. The 1969 Padres finished last in the NL West at 52-110, the start of a run of last-place finishes under Gomez through 1971 and part of 1972.
Preston Gomez, born Pedro Gomez Martinez in Central Preston, Cuba, took his professional name from his birthplace. A right-handed infielder, he played eight major league games at shortstop and second base for the 1944 Washington Senators, batting .286 in seven at-bats with two RBI and two runs. He spent the next two decades in the minor leagues as a player and then a manager, winning an International League title and Junior World Series with the 1959 Havana Sugar Kings and a Pacific Coast League title with the 1960 Spokane Indians. He joined the Los Angeles Dodgers as third-base coach in 1965 under Walter Alston, working two pennant-winning clubs and a World Series champion. In August 1968 Padres president Buzzie Bavasi named him the first manager in San Diego Padres history. He went on to manage the Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs, later coaching for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Dodgers again, and the California Angels, where he finished his career in the front office as a special assignments scout.
Sources: Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 445 | 22 | 134 | 224 | 43 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 15 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 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 San Diego Padres cards:
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- #38 Zoilo Versalles
- #98 Dave Giusti
- #129 Bill McCool
- #149 Ollie Brown
- #184 Roberto Pena
- #197 Dick Selma
- #223 Tom Dukes
- #249 Ed Spiezio
- #271 Larry Stahl
- #304 Padres 1969 Rookie Stars
- #333 Ivan Murrell
- #359 Dick Kelley
- #387 Bobby Klaus
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #74 card?
It is card #74 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Preston Gomez of the San Diego Padres. This is one of the 25 manager cards in the 1969 Topps set - one for each of the 24 clubs, with Washington twice (#294 Jim Lemon, the outgoing manager, and #650 Ted Williams, hired that February). Nine of the 25 are Hall of Famers.
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.