1977 Topps #659 Merv Rettenmund
About Merv Rettenmund
Cincinnati traded Rettenmund to San Diego during spring training in 1976. No longer fighting to start every day, he relaxed with the Padres and found success as a pinch-hitter: "I started having fun again," he said. In 1977 he set a Padres record with 21 pinch-hits in 67 at-bats. He also set two National League pinch-hitting records that year, walking 16 times and appearing in 86 games. His 1977 Topps card, #659, showed him with San Diego.
Merv Rettenmund played 13 major league seasons as a right-handed-hitting outfielder, beginning with Baltimore in 1968. He played all three outfield positions for the Orioles, who won three consecutive American League pennants from 1969 through 1971. He homered in the 1970 World Series clincher and hit a three-run homer in the opener of the 1971 Series. Traded to Cincinnati after the 1973 season, he won another championship with the 1975 Reds. Rettenmund finished his playing career with San Diego and California, retiring after 1980 with a .271 average, 66 home runs and 329 RBI. As a pinch-hitter, he went 66-for-239, a .276 average. He later worked as a major league hitting coach for Texas, Oakland, San Diego, Atlanta and Detroit.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 85 | 9 | 57 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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: #134 San Diego Padres Team
More San Diego Padres cards:
- #5 1976 Victory Leaders
- #9 Doug Rader
- #39 Tom Griffin
- #63 Tito Fuentes
- #78 Bob Davis
- #108 Alan Foster
- #158 Ted Kubiak
- #182 Dan Spillner
- #215 Butch Metzger
- #241 Dave Tomlin
- #268 Rick Sawyer
- #286 Johnny Grubb
- #303 Gene Tenace
- #325 Mike Ivie
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1977 Topps #659 card?
It is card #659 of the 660-card 1977 Topps Baseball set, picturing Merv Rettenmund of the San Diego Padres.
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.