1972 Topps #586 Denis Menke
About Denis Menke
The November swap between Houston and Cincinnati sent Menke to the Reds with Joe Morgan, Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo and Ed Armbrister; the Astros got Tommy Helms, Lee May and Jimmy Stewart. With May gone, Tony Perez moved to first base and Sparky Anderson filled third with Menke, who played 130 games there. His #586, a fifth-series card, lists him with the Reds.
Denis John Menke was born July 21, 1940, on a 480-acre farm outside Bancroft, Iowa, and signed with the Milwaukee Braves in May 1958 for a bonus reported at between $125,000 and $175,000, a sizable sum in the years before the draft began. After Pacific Coast League Rookie of the Year honors at Vancouver in 1961, he debuted on April 14, 1962, and played 13 major-league seasons for the Braves, Houston Astros and Cincinnati Reds, playing shortstop, second base, third base and first base. He batted .250 with 101 home runs and 606 runs batted in over 1,598 games, and was picked for the National League All-Star team as a shortstop in 1969 and 1970. In November 1971 Houston sent him to Cincinnati in the deal built around Joe Morgan. He started at third base for the 1972 pennant winners, homering off Catfish Hunter in Game Five of the World Series and setting a Series record with 29 chances at third without an error. He played his last game July 10, 1974, managed in the minors, then coached in the majors with the Blue Jays, Astros, Phillies and Reds, serving as Philadelphia's hitting coach from 1989 to 1996. He died December 1, 2020, in Tarpon Springs, Florida, at 80.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 260 | 1 | 68 | 148 | 33 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 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: #651 Cincinnati Reds
More Cincinnati Reds cards:
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- #80 Tony Perez
- #89 1971 N.L. Home Run Leaders
- #99 Ross Grimsley
- #121 Ed Sprague
- #136 Darrel Chaney
- #157 Don Gullett
- #236 Jim McGlothlin
- #256 George Foster
- #267 Dave Concepcion
- #291 Hal McRae
- #292 Hal McRae In Action
- #311 Clay Carroll
- #312 Clay Carroll In Action
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #586 card?
It is card #586 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Denis Menke of the Cincinnati Reds.
How many cards are in the 1972 Topps Baseball set?
787 cards, tracked as 794 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 787 with none skipped, in six print series (#1-132, #133-263, #264-394, #395-525, #526-656 and #657-787, the high numbers); 7 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - four Chicago Cubs cards with yellow or green under the "C" and "S" of the team name, the #251 and #478 checklists with smaller or larger print on the front, and the #604 checklist with its copyright line aligned right or left.
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.