1974 Topps #134 Denis Menke
About Denis Menke
Denis Menke spent 1973 at third base for Cincinnati, hitting .191 with 3 home runs and 26 RBI in 139 games, though his .966 fielding percentage there ranked second in the National League. He went 2-for-9 with a home run in the 1973 NLCS, which the Mets won three games to two. The Reds are on his 1974 Topps card, #134; Cincinnati sent him back to Houston for Pat Darcy and cash after the season.
Denis John Menke was born July 21, 1940, on a 480-acre farm outside Bancroft, Iowa, and signed with the Milwaukee Braves in May 1958 for a bonus reported at between $125,000 and $175,000, a sizable sum in the years before the draft began. After Pacific Coast League Rookie of the Year honors at Vancouver in 1961, he debuted on April 14, 1962, and played 13 major-league seasons for the Braves, Houston Astros and Cincinnati Reds, playing shortstop, second base, third base and first base. He batted .250 with 101 home runs and 606 runs batted in over 1,598 games, and was picked for the National League All-Star team as a shortstop in 1969 and 1970. In November 1971 Houston sent him to Cincinnati in the deal built around Joe Morgan. He started at third base for the 1972 pennant winners, homering off Catfish Hunter in Game Five of the World Series and setting a Series record with 29 chances at third without an error. He played his last game July 10, 1974, managed in the minors, then coached in the majors with the Blue Jays, Astros, Phillies and Reds, serving as Philadelphia's hitting coach from 1989 to 1996. He died December 1, 2020, in Tarpon Springs, Florida, at 80.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 198 | 13 | 82 | 85 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 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: #459 Cincinnati Reds
More Cincinnati Reds cards:
- #10 Johnny Bench
- #34 Andy Kosco
- #59 Ross Grimsley
- #85 Joe Morgan
- #111 Clay Carroll
- #158 Jack Billingham
- #181 Cesar Geronimo
- #201 1973 Batting Leaders
- #230 Tony Perez
- #248 Tom Hall
- #277 Gary Nolan
- #287 Clay Kirby
- #300 Pete Rose
- #326 Reds Field Leaders
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1974 Topps #134 card?
It is card #134 of the 660-card 1974 Topps Baseball set, picturing Denis Menke of the Cincinnati Reds.
How many cards are in the 1974 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, tracked as 678 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 660 with none skipped, issued all at once as a single series and printed in equal quantities; 17 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - fourteen San Diego / "Washington Nat'l Lea." pairs (thirteen Padres player cards and the #226 team card), the three-state #599 Rookie Pitchers, the #608 Apodaco misspelling and the #654 Jesus Alou front without a position.
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.