1979 Topps #571 Darrell Porter
About Darrell Porter
With Porter hitting .379 early in 1979, manager Whitey Herzog called him the best catcher in the league. He carried a .305 average with 9 home runs and 53 RBI by mid-June and beat out Carlton Fisk as the American League's starting catcher at the All-Star Game. He finished with a .421 on-base percentage and ninth in MVP voting, though the Royals missed the playoffs at 85-77. His #571 shows him with Kansas City.
Darrell Porter was a left-handed-hitting catcher who played 17 seasons, 1971 to 1987, for the Brewers, Royals, Cardinals and Rangers. Milwaukee took him fourth overall in the 1970 draft, and he tied for third in the 1973 American League Rookie of the Year voting. He was an All-Star in 1974, 1978, 1979 and 1980. His best year came in 1979 with Kansas City: .291, 20 home runs, 112 RBI, 101 runs and a league-leading 121 walks, which made him the sixth catcher to score 100 runs and drive in 100 in a season. In 1982 he won both the NLCS and World Series MVP awards with the Cardinals. He caught Jim Colborn's no-hitter in 1977 and Bob Forsch's in 1983, and he wore glasses behind the plate. Over his career he hit .247 with 188 home runs and 826 RBI in 1,782 games. He entered treatment for alcohol and drug abuse in the spring of 1980, wrote the autobiography Snap Me Perfect!, and was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. He died in 2002 at age 50.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 87 | 6 | 44 | 29 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 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.
Find this card
Search T206 Cards Shop 1979 Topps cards Live auctions Buy It Now on eBay Sold prices
As an eBay Partner Network affiliate, T206Cards.com may earn from qualifying purchases.
Related cards
Team card: #451 Kansas City Royals / Whitey Herzog
More Kansas City Royals cards:
- #19 Larry Gura
- #26 Jamie Quirk
- #45 Al Hrabosky
- #72 Steve Mingori
- #99 John Wathan
- #129 Marty Pattin
- #157 U.L. Washington
- #183 Paul Splittorff
- #218 Dennis Leonard
- #248 Pete LaCock
- #273 Jerry Terrell
- #298 Rich Gale
- #330 George Brett
- #360 Amos Otis
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #571 card?
It is card #571 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Darrell Porter 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.