1974 Topps #430 Matty Alou
About Matty Alou
Alou hit .295 in 134 games in 1973, split between the Yankees, where he rejoined brother Felipe, and the Cardinals. St. Louis sold his contract to San Diego on October 24, 1973, and Topps used that Padres identification for card #430 in its 1974 issue. He batted .198 in 48 games for the Padres, and his last major league game came on June 21, 1974.
Mateo Rojas Alou, always Matty on his Topps cards, signed with the New York Giants in the winter of 1956-57 out of San Cristobal province, Dominican Republic, the middle Alou brother between Felipe and Jesus. He debuted with the San Francisco Giants in September 1960 and spent six seasons there as a part-time outfielder before the Pirates acquired him in a trade on December 1, 1965. Pirates manager Harry Walker handed him a 38-ounce bat and rebuilt his stroke to stop pulling and slap the ball the other way. His average jumped from .231 to .342, and he won the 1966 National League batting title, edging his own brother Felipe. Four straight .330-plus seasons ran through 1969, with All-Star selections in 1968 and 1969. He played all 162 games in 1969 and led the majors with 698 at-bats, then a major league record and since surpassed. His 231 hits that year were the most by a National League batter since Joe Medwick in 1937. Alou earned a World Series ring with the 1972 Oakland Athletics, after losing the 1962 World Series with the Giants. He later played three seasons in Japan for the Taiheiyo Club Lions, then managed in the Dominican Professional Baseball League, and entered the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame in 2007.
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 | 175 | 0 | 24 | 98 | 27 | 17 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 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: #226 San Diego Padres
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- #241 Glenn Beckert
- #250 Willie McCovey
- #309 Dave Roberts
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1974 Topps #430 card?
It is card #430 of the 660-card 1974 Topps Baseball set, picturing Matty Alou of the San Diego Padres.
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.