1979 Topps #625 Mark Fidrych
About Mark Fidrych
Fidrych made four starts in 1979 and finished 0-3 with a 10.43 ERA. He spent parts of 1980 in the minors, came back for nine starts with Detroit and won the last of them, at Toronto on October 1, his final major-league game. His 1979 Topps card, #625, shows him with the Tigers.
Mark Fidrych was a right-handed starter whose 1976 rookie season with the Detroit Tigers made him a national story. He went 19-9, led the majors with a 2.34 ERA, led the American League with 24 complete games, won Rookie of the Year and finished second to Jim Palmer for the Cy Young Award. On the mound he crouched to groom the dirt, talked to the ball, strutted a circle after every out and threw back balls he said had hits in them. Tiger Stadium crowds chanted until he came out of the dugout to tip his cap after home wins, and a June 28 game against the Yankees on ABC drew 47,855. A minor-league coach nicknamed him the Bird for his resemblance to Big Bird of Sesame Street. Injuries ended it: a torn rotator cuff went undiagnosed until 1985, and he finished 29-19 over five seasons through 1980. After a comeback attempt in the Red Sox system he retired in 1983. He settled on a farm in Northborough, Massachusetts, and hauled gravel in a ten-wheel truck. He died there in 2009 at 54. The Baseball Reliquary inducted him into its Shrine of the Eternals in 2002, and the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame inducted him posthumously in 2009.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 249 | 18 | 108 | 65 | 15 | 18 | 15 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
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 #625 card?
It is card #625 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mark Fidrych of the Detroit Tigers.
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.