1973 Topps #522 Leo Cardenas
About Leo Cardenas
Cardenas hit .223 with 6 home runs and 42 RBI for the 1972 Angels, and the 1973 Topps card #522, in the fourth series, shows him in California. During spring training in 1973 the Angels traded him to Cleveland for Tommy McCraw and minor leaguer Bob Marcano. He played 72 games for the Indians in 1973, hitting .215 as a backup, and made his first big-league appearance at third base that August 16.
Leonardo Lazaro Cardenas Alfonso was born December 17, 1938 in Matanzas, Cuba, one of 15 children. He came to the United States in 1956 for a $500 bonus, claiming to be 17 -- the minimum age a major-league team could sign -- when he was 16, and he was among the last Cuban players out before the borders were sealed. Playing for the Havana Sugar Kings in 1959, he was hit by a stray bullet when celebrating fans fired rifles in the grandstand. Cardenas reached Cincinnati on July 25, 1960 and held the Reds' shortstop job for seven seasons. His defensive play earned him the nickname Mr. Automatic. Teammates called him Chico, and later Leo. He was a five-time All-Star and won the National League Gold Glove at shortstop in 1965. Traded to Minnesota, he fielded .985 in 1971, the highest mark by an American League shortstop since records began in 1901, and was voted the Twins' most valuable player. He finished with the California Angels, Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers, batting .257 with 1,725 hits and 118 home runs over 16 seasons. Cincinnati voted him into the Reds Hall of Fame in 1981.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2) · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 200 | 24 | 87 | 74 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 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: #243 California Angels
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- #67 1972 Strikeout Leaders
- #75 Vada Pinson
- #102 Rudy May
- #123 Sandy Alomar
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- #175 Frank Robinson
- #178 Don Rose
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- #267 Lloyd Allen
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- #289 Bob Oliver
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #522 card?
It is card #522 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Leo Cardenas of the California Angels.
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.