1978 Topps #609 John Denny
About John Denny
Healthy again, Denny went 14-11 with a 2.96 ERA in 1978 and completed 11 of his 33 starts. Claude Osteen was his pitching coach in St. Louis, and Lou Brock had taken him under his wing to teach him how to approach the game. Card #609 shows him with the St. Louis Cardinals.
John Denny was a right-handed starting pitcher who won the 1983 National League Cy Young Award with the Philadelphia Phillies. He pitched 13 seasons, 1974 to 1986, for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Phillies and Cincinnati Reds, and went 123-108 with a 3.59 ERA and 1,146 strikeouts. The Cardinals drafted him out of Prescott, Arizona in the 29th round in 1970. Cleveland traded him to Philadelphia on September 12, 1982, and in 1983 he went 19-6 with a 2.37 ERA, leading the league in wins and winning percentage and taking 20 of 24 first-place Cy Young votes. He won Game 1 of the World Series against Baltimore 2-1, allowing one run in 7 2/3 innings. Arm, hamstring and back injuries interrupted much of his career. After retiring he coached pitchers and worked with injured players in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization from 2000 to 2004.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 79 | 3 | 39 | 19 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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: #479 St. Louis Cardinals Team
More St. Louis Cardinals cards:
- #1 Lou Brock
- #32 Garry Templeton
- #58 Bob Forsch
- #88 Mike Phillips
- #111 Mike Tyson
- #143 Keith Hernandez
- #170 Lou Brock
- #195 Larry Dierker
- #230 Al Hrabosky
- #257 Hector Cruz
- #281 Eric Rasmussen
- #301 Buddy Schultz
- #324 Vern Rapp
- #352 Tony Scott
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1978 Topps #609 card?
It is card #609 of the 726-card 1978 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Denny of the St. Louis Cardinals.
How many cards are in the 1978 Topps Baseball set?
726 cards, numbered 1 through 726 with none skipped and issued as a single series, and 728 collectible states: #23 Bump Wills comes with or without a black circle, and #374 Jose Morales with or without black stitching over the red laces, so the master set counts both states of each.
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.