1979 Topps #583 Julio Cruz
About Julio Cruz
In 1978 Cruz won the starting second base job from Jose Baez, hit .235 and stole 59 bases, second in the American League to Ron LeFlore's 68. His .987 fielding percentage led major league second basemen. Cruz usually led off, and he signaled outfielder Ruppert Jones with a finger to his ear when he planned to run. Topps listed him on card #583 with the Mariners.
Julio Cruz was a switch-hitting second baseman whose speed carried a ten-year career with the Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox. An undrafted free agent signed by the Angels, he was left unprotected in the November 1976 expansion draft and taken by Seattle in the fifth round. He stole more than 40 bases in each season from 1978 through 1983, and his 290 steals as a Mariner stood as the club record until Ichiro Suzuki passed it in 2008. Traded to the White Sox on June 15, 1983 for Tony Bernazard, he hit 4-for-12 in that year's ALCS, his only postseason. He finished with a .237 average, 343 stolen bases and 1,156 games. He joined the small group with at least 300 steals and a success rate of 80 percent or better. He was inducted into the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame in 2004 and later broadcast Mariners games. He died on February 22, 2022.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 73 | 10 | 48 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 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
Team card: #659 Seattle Mariners / Darrell Johnson
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #583 card?
It is card #583 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Julio Cruz of the Seattle Mariners.
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.