1973 Topps #655 Clay Kirby
About Clay Kirby
In 1972 Kirby went 12-14 with a 3.13 ERA and struck out 175 batters. He started 34 games and worked 238 2/3 innings. San Diego finished last in each of his five seasons with the club. Card #655 in the fifth series of 1973 Topps, a high number, shows him with the Padres.
Clayton Laws Kirby Jr. pitched eight major league seasons (1969-1976) for the San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, and Montreal Expos, compiling a 75-104 record with a 3.84 ERA across 261 games. The Washington, D.C. native was chosen by the Padres in the 1968 expansion draft and started 35 games as a rookie. His career totals include 1,548 innings, 1,061 strikeouts and 42 complete games. His signature moment came on July 21, 1970, when he held the New York Mets hitless through eight innings before being lifted for a pinch-hitter, a decision some fans and writers later linked to the Padres waiting until 2021 for their first no-hitter. Traded to Cincinnati after the 1973 season, he pitched two years for the Reds, working as a full-time starter in 1974 before shifting to a swingman role on the pennant-winning 1975 Big Red Machine. After baseball he became a financial securities broker and died of a heart attack in 1991 at age 43.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 160 | 2 | 39 | 84 | 20 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 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: #316 San Diego Padres
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #655 card?
It is card #655 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Clay Kirby of the San Diego Padres.
Why is #655 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the fifth and last print series, #529-660 - the scarce end of the set.
How many cards are in the 1973 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, tracked as 679 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 660 with none skipped, in five series of 132 - #1-132, #133-264, #265-396, #397-528 and the high numbers, #529-660, printed in lower quantities; 19 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - fifteen Field Leaders cards, the #20 Stan Bahnsen, #31 Buddy Bell and #504 Earl Williams border-gap pairs and the two #280 Al Kaline printings.
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.