1979 Topps #545 John Stearns
About John Stearns
Stearns appeared in 155 games in 1979, a career high, and was named to his second All-Star team without playing. On April 11 he and Montreal's Gary Carter collided at the plate, and a bench-clearing fight followed. Both were ejected. He hit .308 with six stolen bases in June. Topps gave him two cards that year, #205 in the Record Breakers subset and #545, both as a Met.
John Stearns was a catcher who spent ten years with the New York Mets after a single game for the Phillies in 1974. A shortstop in high school and a safety and punter at Colorado, he was the second overall pick of the 1973 draft, taken behind David Clyde, and the Phillies traded him to the Mets in December 1974. He took over as the regular catcher in 1977 and made four All-Star teams, in 1977, 1979, 1980 and 1982, as the Mets lost close to 100 games a year. Stearns played hard, and he was involved in several brawls and tackles on and off the field. His teammates and opponents knew him as Bad Dude, a name he picked up while talking to a reporter in 1970. An elbow injury in 1982 ended his effectiveness, and he played only a handful of games over his last two seasons. He later coached for the Yankees, Reds, Orioles and Mets, and was the voice behind the 2000 NLCS cry that the monster was out of the cage when Mike Piazza doubled. He died in 2022 at age 71.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 82 | 8 | 43 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 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
More John Stearns in this set: #205 Record Breakers
Team card: #82 New York Mets / Joe Torre
More New York Mets cards:
- #7 1978 ERA Leaders
- #21 Kevin Kobel
- #46 Ron Hodges
- #69 Elliott Maddox
- #109 Joel Youngblood
- #148 Bruce Boisclair
- #172 Mike Bruhert
- #197 Bob Apodaca
- #205 John Stearns
- #229 Doug Flynn
- #277 Tom Grieve
- #305 Willie Montanez
- #334 Craig Swan
- #355 Lee Mazzilli
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #545 card?
It is card #545 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing John Stearns of the New York Mets.
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.