1979 Topps #490 Al Cowens
About Al Cowens
On May 8, 1979, a pitch from Texas's Ed Farmer fractured Cowens's jaw and broke several teeth, and he missed 21 games. He still played 136 games, hitting .295 with nine home runs and 73 RBI for the Royals. That December he was traded to California. Topps #490 lists him with the Royals.
Al Cowens was a right fielder who played 13 major league seasons, 1974 through 1986, for the Kansas City Royals, California Angels, Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners. A Los Angeles native, he came up through the Royals system after they drafted him in 1969, and he played in Kansas City through 1979. His best year was 1977, when he hit .312 with 23 home runs and 112 RBI, won a Gold Glove, and finished second to Rod Carew in the American League MVP vote. He played in the ALCS in 1976, 1977 and 1978, each time against the Yankees, and lost all three. The Royals traded him to the Angels with Todd Cruz in December 1979 for Willie Aikens and Rance Mulliniks, and the Angels sent him to Detroit in May 1980 for Jason Thompson. He went to Seattle in 1982 and was released there in June 1986. He finished with 1,584 games, a .270 average, 108 home runs and 717 RBI. He died of a heart attack in 2002 at age 50, by then a scout for the Royals.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 72 | 15 | 36 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #490 card?
It is card #490 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Al Cowens of the Kansas City Royals.
How many cards are in the 1979 Topps Baseball set?
726 cards, numbered 1 through 726 with none skipped and issued as a single series, tracked as 727 collectible states: #369 Bump Wills comes with a Rangers or a Blue Jays team banner, and the master set counts both.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA, 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.