1971 Topps #95 Luis Tiant
About Luis Tiant
Minnesota released Tiant in the spring of 1971, and Atlanta signed him to a minor league deal with Triple-A Richmond. Boston farm club Louisville acquired him, and he was soon back in the majors, going 1-7 with a 4.85 ERA in 21 games for the Red Sox. He also threw a no-hitter in the Venezuelan league in 1971. His #95 card, from the first series, shows him with the Twins.
Luis Clemente Tiant Vega, born November 23, 1940 in Marianao, Cuba, was a right-handed pitcher whose 19 big-league seasons ran from 1964 to 1982, most of them with the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox. The son of Negro leagues star Luis Tiant Sr., he was pitching in Mexico and Cuba when Cleveland bought his contract in 1961 on the recommendation of former Indians All-Star Bobby Avila. With Fidel Castro's Cuba closed to him, he did not see his parents for 14 years. He debuted on July 19, 1964 with an 11-strikeout, 3-0 shutout of the defending American League champion New York Yankees, beating Whitey Ford. A fractured right shoulder blade and a release by Minnesota nearly finished him in 1971, but he rebuilt his delivery in the minors into the twisting, turn-your-back windup that made El Tiante a Fenway Park institution, winning 20 or more games four times and beating Cincinnati twice in the 1975 World Series. He finished 229-172 with a 3.30 ERA over 3,486 1/3 innings. He struck out 2,416 batters, completed 187 games and threw 49 shutouts. He was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. He died October 8, 2024.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 454 | 1 | 8 | 148 | 186 | 53 | 26 | 31 | 1 |
| SGC | 63 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 2 |
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: #522 Minnesota Twins
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #7 Jim Holt
- #26 Bert Blyleven
- #61 1970 American League Batting Leaders
- #65 1970 American League Home Run Leaders
- #69 1970 American League Pitching Leaders
- #74 Twins 1971 Rookie Stars
- #127 Danny Thompson
- #141 Frank Quilici
- #165 Cesar Tovar
- #189 George Mitterwald
- #210 Rod Carew
- #245 Jim Kaat
- #271 Bill Zepp
- #290 Tony Oliva
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #95 card?
It is card #95 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Luis Tiant of the Minnesota Twins.
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.