1978 Topps #715 Jim Kaat
About Jim Kaat
Kaat made 27 starts among 35 appearances for Philadelphia in 1977. He finished 6-11 with a 5.39 ERA. His Phillies card was 1978 Topps #715. He lowered his ERA to 4.10 in 1978 and finished 8-5, starting 24 of his 26 games.
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 | 254 | 18 | 108 | 74 | 24 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 17 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 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: #381 Philadelphia Phillies Team
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- #90 Larry Bowa
- #118 Terry Harmon
- #136 Ted Sizemore
- #161 Bob Boone
- #177 Gene Garber
- #205 1977 Victory Leaders
- #210 Jose Cardenal
- #222 Jerry Martin
- #235 Tim McCarver
- #247 Larry Christenson
- #271 Randy Lerch
- #297 Warren Brusstar
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1978 Topps #715 card?
It is card #715 of the 726-card 1978 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Kaat of the Philadelphia Phillies.
How many cards are in the 1978 Topps Baseball set?
726 cards, numbered 1 through 726 with none skipped and issued as a single series, and 728 collectible states: #23 Bump Wills comes with or without a black circle, and #374 Jose Morales with or without black stitching over the red laces, so the master set counts both states of each.
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.