1974 Topps #79 Gene Tenace
About Gene Tenace
In 1974 Tenace led the American League with 110 walks while hitting .211, a league record for the lowest average by a walks leader. He added 26 home runs in 158 games, 106 of them at first base. Oakland beat the Dodgers in five games in the World Series. His card that year is #79.
Gene Tenace was a catcher and first baseman who played 15 major league seasons, 1969 to 1983, for Oakland, San Diego, St. Louis and Pittsburgh. He hit .241 with 201 home runs, but his value was in getting on base: a .388 career on-base percentage and 984 walks. Born Fiore Gino Tenacci in western Pennsylvania and raised in Lucasville, Ohio, he was a 20th-round pick of the Kansas City Athletics in 1965. He became Oakland's regular catcher for the 1972 postseason, homered in his first two World Series at-bats and was named the Series MVP. He was a member of three straight Oakland champions and won a fourth ring with the 1982 Cardinals. He later coached for Houston and Toronto, went 19-14 as the Blue Jays' interim manager in 1991, and was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 209 | 5 | 83 | 97 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 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: #246 Oakland A's
More Oakland Athletics cards:
- #7 Jim Hunter
- #57 Darold Knowles
- #103 Sal Bando
- #130 Reggie Jackson
- #141 Pat Bourque
- #155 Bert Campaneris
- #180 Ken Holtzman
- #202 1973 Home Run Leaders
- #203 1973 Runs Batted In Leaders
- #212 Rollie Fingers
- #228 Ted Kubiak
- #264 Joe Rudi
- #290 Vida Blue
- #312 Deron Johnson
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1974 Topps #79 card?
It is card #79 of the 660-card 1974 Topps Baseball set, picturing Gene Tenace of the Oakland Athletics.
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.