1972 Topps #709 Jim Kaat
About Jim Kaat
Kaat was 10-2 with a 2.06 ERA through 15 starts in 1972 when he broke a bone in his pitching hand sliding at Comiskey Park. At the plate he hit .289 with two home runs in 47 plate appearances, his best season as a hitter. Topps placed him twice in its sixth series, as #709 and as the In Action card #710, both with the Minnesota Twins.
Jim Kaat pitched 25 seasons in the major leagues, 1959 through 1983, the longest career any pitcher had put together to that point. He spent the heart of it with the Washington Senators and Minnesota Twins before finishing with the White Sox, Phillies, Yankees and Cardinals. A 6-foot-4 southpaw nicknamed Kitty, he worked so fast between pitches that he confounded umpires and annoyed the hitters standing in against him. He won 283 games, 190 of them for the Senators and Twins, more than anyone in the Minnesota era of the franchise, and put together three 20-win seasons, with a record eight-year gap between the first two. He was a three-time All-Star and the most decorated fielding pitcher of his era, taking 16 straight Gold Gloves, still the longest run at the position, though Greg Maddux later won more in total. He earned his only World Series ring working out of the bullpen for the 1982 Cardinals. He finished with a 3.45 ERA and 2,461 strikeouts in 898 appearances, then spent more than two decades as an Emmy-winning broadcaster. The Golden Days Era Committee elected him to the Hall of Fame in December 2021, and he was inducted in 2022.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · National Baseball Hall of Fame · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 596 | 11 | 152 | 270 | 86 | 32 | 23 | 22 | 0 |
| SGC | 69 | 0 | 3 | 25 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 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
More Jim Kaat in this set: #710 In Action
Team card: #156 Minnesota Twins
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #28 Twins 1972 Rookie Stars
- #51 Harmon Killebrew
- #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
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #709 card?
It is card #709 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Kaat of the Minnesota Twins.
Why is #709 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the sixth and last print series, #657-787 - with the fifth series, the toughest to find, per PSA.
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.