1973 Topps #221 Fred Kendall
About Fred Kendall
Rookie Bob Davis opened 1973 as the starter, but Kendall had the job back by the sixth game and was the first to throw out Joe Morgan, who had stolen eight bases in eight tries, in a series against the Reds. Padres pitchers made no secret of preferring him behind the plate, and in mid-September he went 12 for 24 over six games. Card #221 comes from the second series and pictures him with San Diego.
Fred Kendall was a right-handed catcher who played 877 games over 12 seasons, from 1969 to 1980, for the Padres, Indians and Red Sox. A Torrance, California, native, he was drafted by Cincinnati in 1967, then taken by the new San Diego club in the October 1968 expansion draft after Sparky Anderson, hired onto the Padres staff, recommended him. He debuted September 8, 1969, and became the regular catcher in 1973, hitting .282 with 10 home runs and 59 RBI and earning team MVP honors. In 1976 he led the National League in games caught. Traded to Cleveland in December 1976 for George Hendrick, he moved to Boston in 1978 and finished back in San Diego. He retired with a .234 average, 31 home runs and 244 RBI, later coached in the majors for the Tigers, Rockies and Royals, and is the father of three-time All-Star catcher Jason Kendall.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 201 | 3 | 70 | 110 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 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 #221 card?
It is card #221 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Fred Kendall of the San Diego Padres.
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.