1972 Topps #421 Ellie Rodriguez
About Ellie Rodriguez
After hitting .210 in 1971, Rodriguez stood closer to the plate in 1972, stopped batting from a crouch and held the bat straight up. On the advice of batting coach Harvey Kuenn he used a lighter bat and hit to all fields. He led the Brewers in batting average and threw out half of the runners who tried to steal on him. Pitcher Jim Lonborg called him a rock behind the plate. The Brewers appear on his #421 in the fourth series.
Eliseo Rodriguez, known to fans as Ellie Rodriguez, was a Puerto Rican catcher who played nine major league seasons from 1968 to 1976 for the Yankees, Royals, Brewers, Angels and Dodgers. Born in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, he moved with his family to New York City as a boy and grew up idolizing Yankees catcher Yogi Berra before signing with the Kansas City Athletics organization out of James Monroe High School. After debuting with the Yankees in 1968, he became a regular in the 1969 Royals expansion season and earned two All-Star selections, in 1969 with Kansas City and 1972 with Milwaukee, where he hit a career-high .285. Catching for the California Angels in 1974, he tied an American League record with 19 putouts in a nine-inning game and set another with 21 putouts in an extra-inning game, and he later caught one of Nolan Ryan's no-hitters. He finished his career with the Dodgers in 1976, later playing and managing in the Mexican League and coaching young players in Puerto Rico.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 175 | 7 | 52 | 89 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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: #106 Milwaukee Brewers
More Milwaukee Brewers cards:
- #12 Jose Cardenal
- #77 Ron Theobald
- #118 Skip Lockwood
- #153 Rick Auerbach
- #161 Brock Davis
- #162 Brewers 1972 Rookie Stars
- #197 Johnny Briggs
- #255 Jim Lonborg
- #281 Bill Parsons
- #321 Joe Lahoud
- #359 Don Pavletich
- #376 Andy Kosco
- #386 Jim Colborn
- #391 Ken Sanders
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #421 card?
It is card #421 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ellie Rodriguez of the Milwaukee Brewers.
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.