1979 Topps #534 Ken Forsch
About Ken Forsch
Forsch spent 1979 back in the rotation, making 24 starts in 26 games. He finished 11-6 with a 3.04 ERA over 177 2/3 innings. Ten of his starts were complete games, two of them shutouts. His 1979 Topps card, #534, shows him with the Astros.
Ken Forsch was a 6-foot-4 right-hander who pitched 16 seasons in the majors, most of them with the Houston Astros and the last five with the California Angels, and who moved between the rotation and the bullpen more than once. Houston drafted him in the 18th round in 1968 out of Oregon State, and he debuted on September 7, 1970, with a 10-5 complete-game win at San Diego. After starting in the early seventies he spent roughly five years as the Astros' closer, then returned to the rotation, where he no-hit the Atlanta Braves 6-0 at the Astrodome on April 7, 1979. His brother Bob Forsch threw two no-hitters for the Cardinals, making them the only brothers to pitch no-hitters in the majors. Forsch started Game 1 of the 1980 NLCS against Philadelphia, was traded to the Angels for Dickie Thon in April 1981, and made his second All-Star team that year. A dislocated shoulder limited him to two games in 1984. He finished 114-113 with a 3.37 ERA and 1,047 strikeouts, and later worked for the Angels as assistant general manager until 2011.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 49 | 2 | 19 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 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: #381 Houston Astros / Bill Virdon
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- #49 Vern Ruhle
- #68 Joe Niekro
- #107 Jesus Alou
- #130 Bob Watson
- #139 Luis Pujols
- #158 Joe Sambito
- #187 Mark Lemongello
- #203 J.R. Richard
- #232 Jimmy Sexton
- #268 Julio Gonzalez
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- #306 Floyd Bannister
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #534 card?
It is card #534 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ken Forsch of the Houston Astros.
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.