1974 Topps #440 Jim Kaat
About Jim Kaat
Across Minnesota and Chicago in 1973, Kaat pitched 224 1/3 innings with a 4.37 ERA and completed 10 games. His 1974 Topps #440 carried the White Sox identification. In his first full Chicago season, he made 39 starts, completed 15 games and lowered his ERA to 2.92.
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 | 251 | 2 | 33 | 122 | 49 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 0 |
| SGC | 22 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 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: #416 Chicago White Sox
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #22 Cy Acosta
- #46 Pat Kelly
- #70 Dick Allen
- #96 Jerry Hairston
- #120 Wilbur Wood
- #147 Bart Johnson
- #170 Bill Melton
- #195 Carlos May
- #205 1973 Victory Leaders
- #221 White Sox Field Leaders
- #254 Stan Bahnsen
- #286 Tony Muser
- #310 Terry Forster
- #332 All-Star First Basemen
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1974 Topps #440 card?
It is card #440 of the 660-card 1974 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Kaat of the Chicago White Sox.
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.