1978 Topps #143 Keith Hernandez
About Keith Hernandez
The 1978 season brought Hernandez his first Gold Glove, which he took from perennial winner Steve Garvey. He played 159 games, scored 90 runs and stole 13 bases. At the plate he hit .255 with 11 home runs and 64 RBI. His Cardinals card is #143.
Keith Hernandez was a left-handed first baseman who played 17 seasons for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets and Cleveland Indians, finishing with a .296 average, 162 home runs and 2,182 hits. He won 11 consecutive Gold Gloves from 1978 to 1988, the most by any first baseman, and charged so aggressively on bunts that opponents sometimes avoided bunting against him. He shared the 1979 National League MVP award with Willie Stargell after hitting .344, and he won World Series rings with the 1982 Cardinals and the 1986 Mets. A 42nd-round draft pick in 1971 out of the College of San Mateo, he reached St. Louis in August 1974. The Cardinals traded him to the Mets on June 15, 1983, for Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey, and in 1987 he became the first team captain in Mets history. He was a five-time All-Star. After retiring in 1990 he appeared on Seinfeld and has been a Mets television analyst since 2006. The Mets retired his number 17 in 2022.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 463 | 43 | 190 | 140 | 34 | 27 | 10 | 19 | 0 |
| SGC | 32 | 0 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 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 1978 Topps #143 card?
It is card #143 of the 726-card 1978 Topps Baseball set, picturing Keith Hernandez 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.