1979 Topps #458 Jim Essian
About Jim Essian
Essian led American League catchers in range factor in 1979, his second season with Oakland. He played 98 games, 70 of them at catcher and 10 at third base, and hit eight home runs with 40 RBI. Card #458 carries the Athletics.
Jim Essian was a catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Indians over 12 seasons, and later managed the Chicago Cubs. A Detroit native who played at Arizona State, he signed with Philadelphia as an undrafted free agent in 1969 and debuted on September 15, 1973. In May 1975 the Phillies sent him to Atlanta, and on May 15 the White Sox took him from the Braves as the player to be named later in the Dick Allen trade. In 1976 he finished second to Rick Dempsey among American League catchers in caught-stealing percentage. He backed up Carlton Fisk in 1981 and went to Seattle that December in a trade for Tom Paciorek. He retired with 33 home runs and a .244 average in 710 games. After coaching with the Cubs organization in 1986 and managing in the minors, he took over the Cubs in 1991 when Don Zimmer was fired and went 59-63, becoming the first major league manager of Armenian heritage. He later headed the Greek national team and managed the Utica Unicorns to three straight USPBL titles, 2019 to 2021. The Reading Baseball Hall of Fame inducted him in 2000.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 77 | 18 | 40 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 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.
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Related cards
Team card: #328 Oakland A's / Jack McKeon
More Oakland Athletics cards:
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- #54 Dell Alston
- #78 Elias Sosa
- #163 Glenn Burke
- #191 Mike Norris
- #201 Mike Edwards
- #224 Dave Revering
- #261 Mario Guerrero
- #295 Mitchell Page
- #352 Steve Renko
- #378 Rob Picciolo
- #406 Joe Wallis
- #432 Dave Heaverlo
- #487 Miguel Dilone
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #458 card?
It is card #458 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Essian of the Oakland Athletics.
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.