1979 Topps #104 Johnny Oates
About Johnny Oates
Oates's playing time shrank again in 1979, to 26 games and six hits in 46 at-bats for a .130 average. The Dodgers released him, and he signed with the New York Yankees on April 4, 1980. He appears with the Dodgers on his #104.
Johnny Oates was a defense-first catcher who played from 1970 to 1981 for the Orioles, Braves, Phillies, Dodgers and Yankees, mostly as a reserve, and later managed in the majors. He hit .250 with 14 home runs in 593 games and led American League catchers with a .995 fielding percentage in 1972. He caught eight pitchers with 200 or more wins, among them Gaylord Perry, Steve Carlton, Phil Niekro, Don Sutton and Jim Palmer, and reached the postseason with the 1976 Phillies and the 1977 and 1978 Dodgers. He took over the Orioles in 1991 and won The Sporting News Manager of the Year award in 1993. With the Texas Rangers he led the club to its first playoff berth in 1996, sharing American League Manager of the Year honors with Joe Torre, and the Rangers won division titles again in 1998 and 1999. He resigned after an 11-17 start in 2001, finishing with a 797-746 record as a manager. He died of brain cancer in 2004 at age 58. Texas retired his number 26, and he is in the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Virginia Tech Sports and Virginia Sports halls of fame.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 154 | 28 | 83 | 34 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 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: #526 Los Angeles Dodgers / Tom Lasorda
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- #128 Ted Martinez
- #145 Rick Rhoden
- #170 Don Sutton
- #190 Ron Cey
- #228 Vic Davalillo
- #255 Tommy John
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #104 card?
It is card #104 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Johnny Oates of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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.