1973 Topps #530 Jim Kaat
About Jim Kaat
A drawn-out, acrimonious negotiation with owner Calvin Griffith ended with Kaat's salary restored to its earlier high of $60,000. In early August 1973 the Twins lost seven straight and fell 10 games behind the AL West-leading Royals, and Griffith placed him on waivers. Claimed by the White Sox, he went 4-1 for Chicago to finish 15-13, and he won the Gold Glove again. Card #530, a fifth-series high number, is printed 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 | 311 | 5 | 57 | 123 | 58 | 36 | 16 | 16 | 0 |
| SGC | 24 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 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: #654 Minnesota Twins
More Minnesota Twins cards:
- #16 Steve Braun
- #49 Twins Field Leaders
- #61 1972 Batting Leaders
- #80 Tony Oliva
- #98 Dick Woodson
- #122 Jim Strickland
- #148 Dave Goltz
- #170 Harmon Killebrew
- #199 Bert Blyleven
- #228 Bobby Darwin
- #259 Jim Holt
- #284 Glenn Borgmann
- #311 Joe Decker
- #330 Rod Carew
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #530 card?
It is card #530 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Kaat of the Minnesota Twins.
Why is #530 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.