1977 Topps #215 Butch Metzger
About Butch Metzger
The #215 Padres card follows the year The Sporting News named him its NL Rookie Pitcher of the Year, and the Padres then signed Rollie Fingers on December 14. Metzger's 1977 turned sour: 27 hits and 20 earned runs in 15 2/3 spring innings, then a short start on April 23, and on May 17, after three straight homers in a 23-6 loss to the Cubs, San Diego traded him to St. Louis for John D'Acquisto and Pat Scanlon.
Butch Metzger was a right-handed reliever who pitched five major league seasons, 1974 to 1978, for the Giants, Padres, Cardinals and Mets. A second-round pick of San Francisco in 1970 out of Sacramento's John F. Kennedy High School, he led the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in starts, innings and strikeouts at Phoenix in 1974, debuted on September 8 of that year and was traded to San Diego that December with Tito Fuentes for Derrel Thomas. In 1976 the Padres made him their closer: he went 11-4 with a 2.92 ERA and 16 saves. His 77 appearances were a rookie record, and he won his first 12 decisions, tying a record set by Hooks Wiltse. He shared the National League Rookie of the Year Award with Cincinnati's Pat Zachry, the only tie in that award's voting, and was the first Padre to win it. The heavy workload took its toll, and no winner of the award has pitched fewer career innings. He finished 18-9 with a 3.74 ERA over 293 1/3 innings, and later worked as a scout.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 69 | 5 | 27 | 27 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 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: #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
- #241 Dave Tomlin
- #268 Rick Sawyer
- #286 Johnny Grubb
- #303 Gene Tenace
- #325 Mike Ivie
- #348 Brent Strom
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1977 Topps #215 card?
It is card #215 of the 660-card 1977 Topps Baseball set, picturing Butch Metzger 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.