1970 Topps #79 Clay Kirby
About Clay Kirby
Card #79 in the first series of 1970 Topps shows Kirby with the Padres. His teammates had nicknamed the young right-hander The Kid. He went 10-16 with a 4.53 ERA in 1970. Thirty-four of his 36 games were starts, and he threw 214 2/3 innings.
Clayton Laws Kirby Jr. pitched eight major league seasons (1969-1976) for the San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, and Montreal Expos, compiling a 75-104 record with a 3.84 ERA across 261 games. The Washington, D.C. native was chosen by the Padres in the 1968 expansion draft and started 35 games as a rookie. His career totals include 1,548 innings, 1,061 strikeouts and 42 complete games. His signature moment came on July 21, 1970, when he held the New York Mets hitless through eight innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter, a decision some fans and writers later linked to the Padres waiting until 2021 for their first no-hitter. Traded to Cincinnati after the 1973 season, he pitched two years for the Reds, working as a full-time starter in 1974 before shifting to a swingman role on the pennant-winning 1975 Big Red Machine. After baseball he became a financial securities broker and died of a heart attack in 1991 at age 43.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 215 | 9 | 68 | 108 | 18 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 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: #657 San Diego Padres
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- #130 Ollie Brown
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- #179 Ivan Murrell
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- #234 Tommy Dean
- #262 Padres 1970 Rookie Stars
- #284 Jack Baldschun
- #314 Bill McCool
- #329 Chris Cannizzaro
- #345 Al Ferrara
- #352 Bob Barton
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1970 Topps #79 card?
It is card #79 of the 720-card 1970 Topps Baseball set, picturing Clay Kirby of the San Diego Padres.
How many cards are in the 1970 Topps Baseball set?
720 cards, tracked as 726 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 720 with none skipped, issued in seven series - #1-132, #133-263, #264-372, #373-459, #460-546, #547-633 and the high numbers, #634-720; 6 cards, all of them checklists, carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, 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.