1977 Topps #638 Jim Kaat
About Jim Kaat
Kaat's 1976 was his first year in Philadelphia. He went 12-14 with a 3.48 ERA in 227 2/3 innings. He also pitched 6 innings in the Phillies' three-game NLCS loss to Cincinnati. His 1977 Topps card, #638, shows him with the Phillies.
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 | 224 | 23 | 75 | 63 | 19 | 20 | 8 | 15 | 1 |
| SGC | 25 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 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: #467 Philadelphia Phillies Team
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- #2 1976 Home Run Leaders
- #30 Greg Luzinski
- #59 Larry Christenson
- #84 Ollie Brown
- #110 Steve Carlton
- #140 Mike Schmidt
- #164 Tug McGraw
- #188 Bob Tolan
- #217 Tom Underwood
- #243 Ron Reed
- #264 Tom Hutton
- #289 Gene Garber
- #310 Larry Bowa
- #337 Ron Schueler
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1977 Topps #638 card?
It is card #638 of the 660-card 1977 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Kaat of the Philadelphia Phillies.
How many cards are in the 1977 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, numbered 1 through 660 with none skipped and distributed as a single series. No card carries a catalogued print variation, so the base set and the master set are the same 660 cards.
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.