1978 Topps #56 Randy Jones
About Randy Jones
Jones went 13-14 with a 2.88 ERA in 1978. He made 36 starts and worked 253 innings. He completed seven, two of them shutouts, and struck out 71 batters. His Topps card that year is #56, a solo card showing him with the Padres.
Randy Jones was a left-handed sinkerball pitcher who won the 1976 National League Cy Young Award with the San Diego Padres. A fifth-round pick in 1972 out of Chapman College, he reached the majors in June 1973 after minor-league pitching instructor Warren Hacker taught him a new sinker grip. He lived on location, groundballs and quick work, and finished ten seasons at 100-123 with a 3.42 ERA. In 1975 he became the first 20-game winner in Padres history and finished second to Tom Seaver in the Cy Young vote. In 1976 he started the All-Star Game and tied Christy Mathewson's NL record by pitching 68 innings without a walk. He severed a nerve in his pitching arm in his last start of that season, and surgery ended his peak. The Padres traded him to the Mets in December 1980, and he pitched his last major league games in New York in 1982. The Padres retired his number 35 in 1997, and he was part of the inaugural Padres Hall of Fame class in 1999. He later coached young pitchers, Barry Zito among them, and died in 2025.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 169 | 41 | 90 | 26 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1978 Topps #56 card?
It is card #56 of the 726-card 1978 Topps Baseball set, picturing Randy Jones of the San Diego Padres.
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.