1979 Topps #340 Jim Palmer
About Jim Palmer
Palmer won 21 games with a 2.46 ERA for Baltimore in 1978. His 1979 Topps #340 carried the All-Star designation. In Game 1 of the 1979 ALCS against California, he allowed three runs in nine innings opposite Nolan Ryan; John Lowenstein's 10th-inning homer then won it for the Orioles.
James Alvin Palmer pitched all 19 of his major league seasons with the Baltimore Orioles (1965-1967, 1969-1984) and finished as the winningest pitcher of the 1970s with 186 wins. A right-hander whose best pitch was a high fastball, he worked on three World Series champions (1966, 1970, 1983) and six American League pennant winners, and he is the only pitcher to win a World Series game in three different decades. His Game Two shutout of Los Angeles in the 1966 Series, thrown nine days before his 21st birthday, made him the youngest man to pitch a complete-game shutout in a Series and sent Sandy Koufax off in his final appearance. Palmer won three Cy Young Awards (1973, 1975, 1976), four straight Gold Gloves (1976-1979), two ERA titles and six All-Star selections. He won 20 or more games eight times and finished 268-152 with a 2.86 ERA and 53 shutouts. Arm trouble cost him most of 1967 and all of 1968, but he came back in 1969 with the only no-hitter of his career. He was nicknamed Cakes for the pancakes he ate on the mornings he pitched. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990, his first year of eligibility.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 1,129 | 10 | 173 | 424 | 251 | 130 | 63 | 76 | 2 |
| SGC | 132 | 0 | 8 | 36 | 37 | 30 | 10 | 11 | 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 #340 card?
It is card #340 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles.
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.