1972 Topps #434 Johnny Bench In Action
About this card
This is one of the 72 In Action cards, each numbered right after the same man's card, in six blocks of twelve even numbers, one per series: #32-54, #164-186, #292-314, #426-448, #552-574 and #692-714 (#34 Billy Martin follows his #33 manager card). The backs of the 24 In Action cards in the fifth and sixth series piece together into pictures of Joe Torre and Carl Yastrzemski (fifth series) and Tony Oliva and Tom Seaver (sixth).
About Johnny Bench In Action
Bench led the majors with 40 home runs and 125 RBI in 1972. In the deciding NLCS Game 5, he led off the ninth with a homer off Pittsburgh's Dave Giusti to tie the score; Cincinnati won the pennant later that inning. Topps issued fourth-series Reds cards #433 and #434, the latter In Action. On December 9, Bench had surgery to remove a lung growth that proved benign.
Johnny Bench spent all 17 of his major-league seasons with Cincinnati, catching for the Reds from his 1967 arrival through most of the Big Red Machine years. He grew up in Binger, Oklahoma, played baseball and basketball, and graduated as his high school class valedictorian. Cincinnati selected him 36th overall in the second round of the 1965 amateur draft. A broken right thumb in the minors helped change his catching technique: he adopted a hinged mitt and kept his throwing hand out of the way while receiving pitches. Bench won the 1968 National League Rookie of the Year award, becoming the first catcher to win the NL honor. He was the league's MVP in 1970 and 1972, made 14 All-Star teams and won ten consecutive Gold Gloves from 1968 through 1977. He played on Cincinnati's 1975 and 1976 World Series championship clubs. Over his career he collected 2,048 hits and batted .267. He hit 389 home runs and drove in 1,376 runs. In his final three seasons he played chiefly at first and third base. His last home run came on Johnny Bench Night at Riverfront Stadium in September 1983. He entered the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989, his first year of eligibility.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 920 | 6 | 49 | 275 | 191 | 134 | 103 | 162 | 0 |
| SGC | 177 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 28 | 29 | 36 | 54 | 5 |
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 Johnny Bench in this set: #433 Johnny Bench
Team card: #651 Cincinnati Reds
More Cincinnati Reds cards:
- #3 Bob Tolan
- #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 #434 card?
It is card #434 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Johnny Bench of the Cincinnati Reds. This is one of the 72 In Action cards, each numbered right after the same man's card, in six blocks of twelve even numbers, one per series: #32-54, #164-186, #292-314, #426-448, #552-574 and #692-714 (#34 Billy Martin follows his #33 manager card). The backs of the 24 In Action cards in the fifth and sixth series piece together into pictures of Joe Torre and Carl Yastrzemski (fifth series) and Tony Oliva and Tom Seaver (sixth).
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.