1979 Topps #223 Kent Tekulve
About Kent Tekulve
Tekulve led the NL with 94 games in 1979 and saved 31 again, the last of them on the final day of the season as the Pirates clinched the East. On September 1 in San Francisco, Tanner sent him to left field so he could stay in the game while Grant Jackson faced Darrell Evans; Evans flied out to him. In the World Series against Baltimore he saved three games, the last the Game 7 clincher, striking out Gary Roenicke and Doug DeCinces in the ninth. Topps placed him on #223 with the Pirates.
Kent Tekulve was a right-handed submarine reliever who pitched 16 seasons in the majors, 1974 into 1985 for the Pittsburgh Pirates, then for the Phillies and, in his final year, the Reds. Undrafted after Marietta College in 1969, he went to a Forbes Field tryout that July, sat in the stands while others worked out, and was signed on the spot by scout Dick Coury when he finally got to throw. The Pirates moved him to relief in 1970, and he developed the low delivery after watching Ted Abernathy of the Reds. He debuted on May 20, 1974, with one inning against Montreal, and made 1,050 appearances without a single start. He led the National League in games four times, appeared in 90 or more games three times, and was an All-Star in 1980. The Pirates traded him to Philadelphia on April 20, 1985 for Al Holland, and in 1987, at 40, he pitched in 90 games. He finished 94-90 with a 2.85 ERA and 184 saves, and he holds the National League record for career innings in relief. He worked Phillies telecasts from 1991 to 1997, later served as a Pirates analyst, and had a heart transplant on September 5, 2014.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 127 | 16 | 64 | 36 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 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: #244 Pittsburgh Pirates / Chuck Tanner
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #1 1978 Batting Leaders
- #4 1978 Stolen Base Leaders
- #28 Steve Brye
- #55 Willie Stargell
- #70 John Candelaria
- #92 Jim Bibby
- #117 Grant Jackson
- #147 Dave Hamilton
- #165 Frank Taveras
- #189 Eddie Whitson
- #208 Clarence Gaston
- #264 Don Robinson
- #286 Duffy Dyer
- #308 Bert Blyleven
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #223 card?
It is card #223 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Kent Tekulve of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
How many cards are in the 1979 Topps Baseball set?
726 cards, numbered 1 through 726 with none skipped and issued as a single series, tracked as 727 collectible states: #369 Bump Wills comes with a Rangers or a Blue Jays team banner, and the master set counts both.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA, 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.