1971 Topps #409 Don Pavletich
About Don Pavletich
Late in spring training 1971, at least one headline proclaimed "Pavletich Seen Top Sox Catcher." He played in 14 games that season, 8 of them behind the plate, and hit .259 with one home run and three RBI before his final big-league appearance on September 1. On October 10 Boston sent him to Milwaukee in a ten-player trade that also moved George Scott, Jim Lonborg and Billy Conigliaro, with Tommy Harper and Marty Pattin among the Brewers headed east. His 1971 Topps card, #409, carries the Red Sox.
Donald Stephen Pavletich was born in Milwaukee on July 13, 1938, and grew up in the suburb of West Allis. He was of Croatian descent, all four grandparents having come over from Croatia. He hit .405 across four years at Nathan Hale High School and starred in American Legion and semipro ball before the Reds signed him in August 1956 for a reported $35,000 bonus. The bonus rule kept him on the big-league roster, and he debuted at 18 on April 20, 1957, pinch-hitting at Milwaukee's County Stadium. Weeks later he enlisted in the Army, serving as a medic in Heilbronn, Germany, until February 1959. He rebuilt his career at Topeka and Indianapolis, was voted a Triple-A All-Star in 1961, and finally collected his first big-league hit on April 29, 1962, five years after his debut. He spent most of the 1960s in Cincinnati behind Johnny Edwards and then Johnny Bench, and went to the White Sox after 1968 and to Boston after 1969. He closed out at .254 with 46 home runs and 193 RBIs in 536 games over twelve seasons. After his playing days he sold investment real estate and later worked as a Milwaukee loan officer. He died in 2020 at 81.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 259 | 0 | 7 | 131 | 88 | 21 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 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: #386 Boston Red Sox
More Boston Red Sox cards:
- #9 George Scott
- #31 Eddie Kasko
- #58 Bill Lee
- #61 1970 American League Batting Leaders
- #63 1970 American League RBI Leaders
- #65 1970 American League Home Run Leaders
- #89 Ken Brett
- #114 Billy Conigliaro
- #159 Jarvis Tatum
- #176 Red Sox 1971 Rookie Stars
- #191 Mike Andrews
- #225 Gary Peters
- #254 Cal Koonce
- #287 Mike Fiore
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #409 card?
It is card #409 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Don Pavletich of the Boston Red Sox.
How many cards are in the 1971 Topps Baseball set?
752 cards, tracked as 761 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 752 with none skipped, issued in six print series (132/131/130/130/120/109 cards), the sixth (#644-752) the high numbers; seven cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - the #42, #265 and #306 photo pairs and the #123, #206, #369 and #619 checklists, #369 and #619 in three printings each.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA (its price guide, master set registry and set article), 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.