1971 Topps #290 Tony Oliva
About Tony Oliva
In 1970 Oliva led the American League with 204 hits and 36 doubles and drove in 107 runs, and he finished second to Boog Powell in the Most Valuable Player voting. His .325 average ranked third in the league, behind Alex Johnson of California and Carl Yastrzemski of Boston, his partners on first-series League Leaders card #61. The third series brought his Twins card, #290. In the ALCS he went 6 for 12 with a home run as Baltimore won three straight.
Tony Oliva was born Pedro Oliva in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, and reached the United States in the spring of 1961 on papers that belonged to his brother Antonio. He spent his whole major league career, 1962 through 1976, with the Minnesota Twins, first in right field and later as a designated hitter. After short callups in 1962 and 1963 he was a near-unanimous American League Rookie of the Year in 1964 and took the batting title in the same season, something no player had done before, while leading the league in hits, doubles, runs and total bases. He repeated as batting champion in 1965, when the Twins won the pennant, and won a third crown at .337 in 1971. A Gold Glove came in 1966, and he was an All-Star in each of his first eight full seasons. Knee, leg and shoulder injuries followed: he played ten games in 1972, then spent four closing years as the Twins' designated hitter. He finished at .304 with 220 home runs and 947 RBI, coached in Minnesota, had his number 6 retired in 1991, and was voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in December 2021 for the class of 2022.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 750 | 0 | 24 | 234 | 234 | 126 | 59 | 71 | 2 |
| SGC | 126 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 28 | 45 | 16 | 18 | 6 |
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
More Tony Oliva in this set: #61 League Leaders
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
- #95 Luis Tiant
- #127 Danny Thompson
- #141 Frank Quilici
- #165 Cesar Tovar
- #189 George Mitterwald
- #210 Rod Carew
- #245 Jim Kaat
- #271 Bill Zepp
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #290 card?
It is card #290 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tony Oliva 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.