1971 Topps #749 Ken Szotkiewicz
About Ken Szotkiewicz
Spring training 1971 ended his time in the majors. Billy Martin, the new Tigers manager, wanted him playing every day rather than sitting on the bench, and with Ed Brinkman acquired from the Senators to take over at shortstop, Szotkiewicz went in the first round of cuts. His rookie card, #749 from the sixth series, still has him with Detroit.
Ken Szotkiewicz was a left-handed-hitting shortstop whose major-league career was the 47 games he played for the Detroit Tigers in 1970. A Wilmington, Delaware, native, he starred in baseball and basketball at Salesianum School, then at Georgia Southern, where he homered in his first college at-bat and was named an NAIA All-American infielder. The Phillies drafted him in the 10th round in 1965 and the Twins in the first round in 1967, but he signed with Detroit after the Tigers took him in the first round of the January 1968 secondary draft, for a $45,000 bonus. Teammates called him "Socko." He made the 1970 club as a backup to Cesar Gutierrez and hit three home runs but finished at .107; a severe ligament strain in his left knee in late July kept him out for more than a month. He spent the next four seasons in the Tigers and Cubs systems before retiring in 1974 at Wichita, then settled in Georgia and worked in marketing for flooring distributors.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 368 | 1 | 6 | 101 | 176 | 53 | 18 | 13 | 0 |
| SGC | 20 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
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: #336 Detroit Tigers
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #3 Dick McAuliffe
- #39 Tigers 1971 Rookie Stars
- #71 1970 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #86 Mike Kilkenny
- #101 Les Cain
- #120 Willie Horton
- #133 Mickey Lolich
- #154 Cesar Gutierrez
- #180 Al Kaline
- #208 Billy Martin
- #229 Jim Hannan
- #265 Jim Northrup
- #296 Tom Timmermann
- #316 Fred Scherman
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #749 card?
It is card #749 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ken Szotkiewicz of the Detroit Tigers.
Is 1971 Topps #749 a rookie card?
Yes - #749 is the 1971 Topps rookie card of Ken Szotkiewicz.
Why is #749 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the sixth and last print series, #644-752 - the scarce end of the set. Some of its cards were printed in larger numbers than others, so scarcity varies card by card inside the run.
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.