1979 Topps #259 Cincinnati Reds / Sparky Anderson
Hall of Famers on the 1978 Cincinnati Reds roster: Sparky Anderson, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Tom Seaver.
About this card
This is one of the 26 team cards, one for each club, and each also carries the club's manager - there are no separate manager cards in 1979.
The story on this card
Cincinnati won 92 games in 1978 and still finished second in the National League West, 2 1/2 games behind the Dodgers. Pete Rose tied Willie Keeler's National League record with a 44-game hitting streak that ran from June 14 to August 1 and ended against Atlanta's Gene Garber. Tom Seaver threw the only no-hitter of his career on June 16, a 4-0 win over St. Louis at Riverfront Stadium. Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan and Seaver were all National League All-Stars that year. Sparky Anderson, whose clubs had won the division in 1970, 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1976, was replaced by John McNamara after the season, and Rose signed with the Phillies. Card #259 is the Reds team card, with Anderson.
Sparky Anderson was the Hall of Fame manager of Cincinnati's Big Red Machine and the 1984 Detroit Tigers. When he retired in 1995, only Connie Mack and John McGraw had won more games as big league managers.
Sources: Wikipedia (1978 Cincinnati Reds season) · Wikipedia (Sparky Anderson) · SABR BioProject · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 339 | 7 | 81 | 139 | 54 | 31 | 19 | 8 | 0 |
| SGC | 13 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 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 1979 Topps #259 card?
It is card #259 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing the Cincinnati Reds. This is one of the 26 team cards, one for each club, and each also carries the club's manager - there are no separate manager cards in 1979.
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.