1977 Topps #289 Gene Garber
About Gene Garber
With a new three-year contract, Garber took charge of the Phillies bullpen in 1977, going 8-6 with a 2.35 ERA and 19 saves. From July 21 on he went 4-1 with a 1.08 ERA. He won Game 1 of the NLCS, the first Phillies postseason win since Grover Cleveland Alexander in 1915, but Los Angeles won Game 3 after Davey Lopes's disputed infield single tied it. Card #289 shows him with Philadelphia.
Gene Garber was a sidearm relief pitcher who worked 19 seasons, 1969 to 1988, for the Pirates, Royals, Phillies and Braves. He went 96-113 with a 3.34 ERA and 218 saves, and his 931 appearances ranked fifth in major league history when he retired. His best pitch was a change-up thrown with a herky-jerky delivery in which he turned his back to the batter. Pittsburgh drafted him in the 20th round in 1965, and he was the International League Pitcher of the Year in 1972 with a 14-3 record at Charleston. In 1982 he saved a career-high 30 games for Atlanta and finished seventh in the National League Cy Young voting. His 141 saves for the Braves ranked third in club history in 2020. A graduate of Elizabethtown College, he farms in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 110 | 21 | 61 | 21 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 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: #467 Philadelphia Phillies Team
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- #59 Larry Christenson
- #84 Ollie Brown
- #110 Steve Carlton
- #140 Mike Schmidt
- #164 Tug McGraw
- #188 Bob Tolan
- #217 Tom Underwood
- #243 Ron Reed
- #264 Tom Hutton
- #310 Larry Bowa
- #337 Ron Schueler
- #357 Tim McCarver
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1977 Topps #289 card?
It is card #289 of the 660-card 1977 Topps Baseball set, picturing Gene Garber of the Philadelphia Phillies.
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.