1977 Topps #494 Rookie Infielders - Juan Bernhardt / Mike Champion / Jim Gantner / Bump Wills
On this card: Juan Bernhardt, Mike Champion, Jim Gantner, Bump Wills
About this card
Cards #472-479 and #487-494 are the sixteen four-player Rookie Prospects cards. A Rookie Prospects card is a rookie card for the players on it who had no earlier Topps flagship card - on #472, #473, #474, #475, #487, #489, #491 and #493 at least one of the four had already appeared on one, and the rookie-card answer on each card names the players it counts for.
The story on this card
Bernhardt leads the four names on #494, a Rookie Prospects card shared with Mike Champion of the Padres, Jim Gantner of the Brewers and Bump Wills of the Rangers; all four are rookie cards. He is printed with the new Seattle Mariners, though his only big league time before that was a 1976 trial with the Yankees: 10 games and a .190 average. Four hits in 21 at-bats made up that average, and the first of them had come on July 17 against the Rangers. Juan Bernhardt was a Dominican infielder who hit the first home run in Seattle Mariners history on Opening Day 1977. He played 154 major league games for the Yankees and Mariners from 1976 to 1979, hitting .238 with 9 home runs.
Champion shares #494, a four-man Rookie Prospects card, with Juan Bernhardt (Mariners), Jim Gantner (Brewers) and Bump Wills (Rangers); it is his rookie card. In spring training he hit .377 and set club records with 29 hits and eight triples. On Opening Day in Cincinnati he went 3-for-5 with a double. The Padres finished 69-93, fifth, and he played 150 games. Mike Champion was a Padres second baseman who played 193 games from 1976 to 1978, hitting .229. A second-round pick in 1973 from Tustin, California, he was San Diego's rookie starter at second base in 1977 alongside shortstop Bill Almon.
Gantner played most of 1977 with Triple-A Spokane in the Pacific Coast League, hitting .281 with 15 home runs and 81 RBI. He also appeared in 14 games for Milwaukee, batting .298. Card #494 is a four-man Rookie Prospects card shared with Juan Bernhardt of the Mariners, Mike Champion of the Padres and Bump Wills of the Rangers, and it is the rookie card for all four. Second baseman who played his entire 17-year career, 1976 to 1992, with the Milwaukee Brewers. He hit .274 with 1,696 hits and scored the winning run in Game 5 of the 1982 ALCS.
Wills was on the cover of the March 28, 1977 Sports Illustrated before he played a big-league game. On Opening Day, April 7 at Baltimore, he lined a 2-and-1 fastball from Jim Palmer up the middle in the 10th inning for the game-winning hit. He batted .287 with 28 steals and finished third in American League Rookie of the Year voting. Card #494 is a four-player Rookie Prospects card, a rookie card for each man: Juan Bernhardt (Seattle), Mike Champion (San Diego), Jim Gantner (Milwaukee) and Wills (Texas). Bump Wills, son of Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills, played second base for the Texas Rangers from 1977 to 1981 and the Cubs in 1982, finishing with 196 career stolen bases before two seasons with the Hankyu Braves in Japan.
Sources: Wikipedia (Juan Bernhardt) · Wikipedia (Mike Champion) · Wikipedia (Jim Gantner) · Wikipedia (Bump Wills) · SABR BioProject (Mike Champion) · SABR BioProject (Jim Gantner) · SABR BioProject (Bump Wills) · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 257 | 14 | 147 | 63 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 0 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 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 cards: #597 Seattle Mariners Team, #134 San Diego Padres Team, #51 Milwaukee Brewers Team, #428 Texas Rangers Team
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1977 Topps #494 card?
It is card #494 of the 660-card 1977 Topps Baseball set, picturing Juan Bernhardt, Mike Champion, Jim Gantner and Bump Wills. Cards #472-479 and #487-494 are the sixteen four-player Rookie Prospects cards. A Rookie Prospects card is a rookie card for the players on it who had no earlier Topps flagship card - on #472, #473, #474, #475, #487, #489, #491 and #493 at least one of the four had already appeared on one, and the rookie-card answer on each card names the players it counts for.
Is 1977 Topps #494 a rookie card?
Yes - #494 is a rookie card for every player pictured on it: Juan Bernhardt, Mike Champion, Jim Gantner and Bump Wills.
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.