1970 Topps #392 Walt Hriniak
About Walt Hriniak
Hriniak was in the Venezuelan League when the Padres acquired catcher Bob Barton from the Giants on December 5, 1969. He hung on until the next-to-last cut of 1970 spring training and was assigned to the Salt Lake City Bees, where he moved to second base. Bees manager Don Zimmer told sportswriters, "You are gonna love this guy. He battles every minute and will do anything in his power to help the club." Card #392, a fourth-series issue, shows him with the Padres.
Walt Hriniak was an American catcher and infielder who reached the major leagues briefly with the Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres after signing with the Milwaukee Braves organization out of Natick High School in Massachusetts, where he was a three-sport all-state athlete. A 1964 car accident that killed a teammate set back his development for years, and by the time he regained his stroke he had shifted from shortstop to catcher. He appeared in 47 major league games, batting .253 with 25 singles and no extra-base hits; as of April 2024, those singles were the post-1900 record for a non-pitcher with no extra-base hits. His last major league season was 1969. Hriniak became a hitting instructor, spending 12 years with the Boston Red Sox and then 1989 through 1995 with the Chicago White Sox, and taught the philosophy of his mentor Charley Lau to players including Carl Yastrzemski and Wade Boggs.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 182 | 7 | 23 | 101 | 40 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1970 Topps #392 card?
It is card #392 of the 720-card 1970 Topps Baseball set, picturing Walt Hriniak 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.