1973 Topps #80 Tony Oliva
About Tony Oliva
A dive for a ball hit by Oakland's Joe Rudi on June 29, 1971, damaged Oliva's right knee and forced September surgery, and in spring training 1972 the repaired knee still brought pain and severe swelling. He stayed on the disabled list until mid-June, then played left field, a new position that manager Bill Rigney thought would demand less running. He went 9 for 28 before going back on the list. On July 5 doctors removed 100 cartilaginous fragments from the knee. His first-series Twins card is #80.
Tony Oliva was born Pedro Oliva in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, and reached the United States in the spring of 1961 on papers that belonged to his brother Antonio. He spent his whole major league career, 1962 through 1976, with the Minnesota Twins, first in right field and later as a designated hitter. After short callups in 1962 and 1963 he was a near-unanimous American League Rookie of the Year in 1964 and took the batting title in the same season, something no player had done before, while leading the league in hits, doubles, runs and total bases. He repeated as batting champion in 1965, when the Twins won the pennant, and won a third crown at .337 in 1971. A Gold Glove came in 1966, and he was an All-Star in each of his first eight full seasons. Knee, leg and shoulder injuries followed: he played ten games in 1972, then spent four closing years as the Twins' designated hitter. He finished at .304 with 220 home runs and 947 RBI, coached in Minnesota, had his number 6 retired in 1991, and was voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in December 2021 for the class of 2022.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 549 | 4 | 108 | 251 | 88 | 43 | 24 | 31 | 0 |
| SGC | 64 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 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
- #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
- #353 Steve Brye
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1973 Topps #80 card?
It is card #80 of the 660-card 1973 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tony Oliva of the Minnesota Twins.
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.