1979 Topps #280 Andre Thornton
About Andre Thornton
Thornton hit 26 home runs and drove in 93 in 1979, and received the Roberto Clemente Award for sportsmanship and community involvement. Rocky Colavito, his first real batting instructor, had been the Indians' hitting coach when Thornton arrived. From 1977 through 1979 he hit 87 home runs and drove in 268 for Cleveland, and Jim Palmer said he tried to pitch around him. Thornton had remarried after the 1978 season, and #280 lists him with the Indians.
Andre Thornton, called Thunder for his long drives, was a right-handed first baseman and designated hitter who hit 253 home runs between 1973 and 1987, ten of those seasons in Cleveland. The Phillies signed him out of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania in 1967, after their scout found him in a pool hall in the middle of a $300 game of nine-ball. He reached the majors with the Chicago Cubs after Atlanta traded him for Joe Pepitone, moved to Montreal in May 1976, and arrived in Cleveland that December in a trade for pitcher Jackie Brown. With the Indians he was an All-Star in 1982 and 1984, The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year in 1982 after a knee injury cost him all of 1980, and a Silver Slugger as designated hitter in 1984. In October 1977 a van accident on the Pennsylvania Turnpike killed his wife Gertrude and daughter Theresa; he wrote Triumph Born of Tragedy about it six years later. Cleveland inducted him into the Indians Hall of Fame in 2007.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 73 | 9 | 42 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
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 #280 card?
It is card #280 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Andre Thornton of the Cleveland Indians.
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.