1975 Topps #518 Leo Cardenas
About Leo Cardenas
Leonardo Lázaro Cárdenas Alfonso was born December 17, 1938, in Matanzas, Cuba, one of fifteen children. He came to the United States in 1956, batted .316 for the Arizona-Mexico League's Tucson Cowboys, and signed with the Cincinnati Reds the following year. Cárdenas made his major-league debut on July 25, 1960, filling in for an injured Roy McMillan, then won the Reds' starting shortstop job in 1962 and held it for seven seasons, earning All-Star selections in 1964, 1965, 1966, and 1968 and a 1965 Gold Glove for defense reliable enough to earn him the nickname "Mr. Automatic." Four home runs in a June 1966 doubleheader helped him set a Reds shortstop home run record (20) that stood for three decades until Barry Larkin broke it. Traded to Minnesota after 1968, he anchored the Twins' 1969 AL West champions, made a fifth All-Star team in 1971, and posted the American League's best fielding percentage since 1901. Stops with the Angels, Indians, and Rangers followed; his 1975 Topps card, from his final big-league season in Texas, closed out a sixteen-year career. Cárdenas entered the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1981.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 297 | 8 | 101 | 149 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-08-19. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8), and PSA's qualified grades are counted separately from the straight-grade rows shown here. The graders do not split the 1975 Topps Mini or O-Pee-Chee issues into this set.
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Related cards
Team card: #511 Texas Rangers
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1975 Topps #518 card?
It is card #518 of the 660-card 1975 Topps Baseball set, picturing Leo Cardenas.
How many cards are in the 1975 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, numbered 1-660, with no variations and no short prints - PSA reports the cards were printed in equal quantities. The 1975 Topps Mini and the 1975 O-Pee-Chee issues are separate products with their own checklists.
Sources: Trading Card Database, Cardboard Connection, the PSA price guide, 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 2026-08-20.