1976 Topps #209 Alan Ashby
About Alan Ashby
Sharing Cleveland's catching duties with Ray Fosse in 1976, Ashby played 89 games, 86 of them behind the plate. He batted .239 with four home runs and 32 RBI and received the club's Gordon Cobbledick Golden Tomahawk Award for his team-oriented attitude. His 1976 Topps rookie card, #209, listed him with the Indians.
Alan Ashby was a switch-hitting catcher who played 17 seasons in the majors, with Cleveland from 1973 to 1976, Toronto in 1977 and 1978, and Houston from 1979 to 1989. He grew up in San Pedro, California, taught himself to bat from both sides after watching the switch-hitting Dodgers infield of the mid-1960s, and was a third-round pick of the Indians in 1969. His 900 games behind the plate were an Astros record until 2005, and he caught three no-hitters for Houston, among them Nolan Ryan's in 1981 and Mike Scott's in 1986. He hit the first postseason home run in Astros history, a walk-off in Game 1 of the 1981 Division Series, and added a game-winner from the other side of the plate in the 1986 NLCS. His best season was 1987, when he hit .288 with 14 home runs and 63 RBI. He finished with 1,370 games, a .245 average and 90 home runs. He later worked as Astros bullpen coach and in the broadcast booths of Houston and Toronto, and was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 121 | 4 | 73 | 33 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 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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- #202 1975 AL ERA Leaders
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1976 Topps #209 card?
It is card #209 of the 660-card 1976 Topps Baseball set, picturing Alan Ashby of the Cleveland Indians.
Is 1976 Topps #209 a rookie card?
Yes - #209 is the 1976 Topps rookie card of Alan Ashby.
How many cards are in the 1976 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, numbered 1 through 660 with none skipped and printed in equal quantities 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.