1977 Topps #260 J.R. Richard
About J.R. Richard
Richard went 18-12 with a 2.97 ERA in 1977, leading the Astros in wins, starts, complete games, innings and strikeouts with 214. He closed the year with 14 strikeouts against the Dodgers on October 2, tying Steve Carlton's season high. He hit 20-for-87 at the plate, and after ten errors in 1976 he went through the season without one. His Astros card is #260.
J.R. Richard was a 6-foot-8 right-handed starter who pitched his whole career for the Houston Astros, from 1971 to 1980. A Louisiana high school star in baseball and basketball, he turned down more than 200 basketball scholarship offers and went second overall in the 1969 draft. Wildness kept him shuttling between Houston and the minors until 1975, but from 1976 to 1979 he won at least 18 games in each of four seasons and led the National League twice in strikeouts. He struck out 313 in 1979, an Astros record until Gerrit Cole passed it in 2019. He finished 107-71 with a 3.15 ERA and 1,493 strikeouts. Johnny Bench and Dale Murphy both named him the toughest pitcher they faced. He made the 1980 All-Star team, but on July 30 of that year he suffered a stroke from a blood clot in his neck while warming up. A 1981 comeback attempt with the Astros ended because the stroke had slowed his reaction time and weakened his depth perception, and the club released him in 1984. The Astros inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2019.
Sources: Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 229 | 25 | 101 | 72 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1977 Topps #260 card?
It is card #260 of the 660-card 1977 Topps Baseball set, picturing J.R. Richard of the Houston Astros.
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.