1972 Topps #51 Harmon Killebrew
About Harmon Killebrew
On August 10, 1971, Killebrew drilled a Mike Cuellar curveball into the left-field seats in the first inning of a home game against Baltimore for career home run number 500, before a crowd of 15,881. He finished the year with 28 homers and 119 RBI in 147 games, an All-Star selection and the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award. His Twins cards are #51 and the In Action #52, both from the first series. First-series #88 is the American League RBI Leaders card he shares with Frank Robinson and Reggie Smith.
Harmon Killebrew signed with the Washington Senators out of Payette, Idaho in 1954, a bonus baby whose contract kept the seventeen-year-old on the big-league roster for two full seasons. He broke through in 1959, tying Rocky Colavito for the American League home run lead with 42. When the franchise moved to Minnesota for 1961 he became the middle of the Twins order for the next decade, shifting between first base, third base and left field as needed. A compact, quiet-tempered slugger built for pure power, he led the American League in home runs six times and in runs batted in three times, reached 40 homers in eight different seasons, and hit 393 home runs during the 1960s, more than any other player in the decade. His finest year was 1969: 49 home runs, 140 RBIs, the American League Most Valuable Player award and the Twins' first AL West title. He reached the World Series once, in 1965, a seven-game loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was known as the Killer, though he was regarded as a kind man off the field. He finished with Kansas City in 1975, retiring with 573 home runs, fifth on the career list at the time, and the Twins retired his No. 3. Cooperstown elected him in 1984.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 2,115 | 20 | 185 | 726 | 479 | 307 | 181 | 216 | 1 |
| SGC | 403 | 0 | 6 | 81 | 103 | 86 | 64 | 61 | 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
More Harmon Killebrew in this set: #52 In Action, #88 League Leaders
Team card: #156 Minnesota Twins
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #28 Twins 1972 Rookie Stars
- #52 Harmon Killebrew In Action
- #66 Ray Corbin
- #86 1971 A.L. Batting Leaders
- #88 1971 A.L. R.B.I. Leaders
- #131 Jim Nettles
- #201 Phil Roof
- #220 Jim Perry
- #244 Steve Braun
- #275 Cesar Tovar
- #301 George Mitterwald
- #302 George Mitterwald In Action
- #352 Dave LaRoche
- #368 Danny Thompson
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #51 card?
It is card #51 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins.
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.