1979 Topps #538 Mike Ivie
About Mike Ivie
Ivie hit .286 for the 1979 Giants with career highs of 27 home runs and 89 RBI. He played 98 of his 133 games at first base and 24 in the outfield. The year before, his first in San Francisco, he had batted .308 in 117 games. His Giants card is #538.
Mike Ivie was a right-handed first baseman, the first overall pick of the 1970 draft by the San Diego Padres, who played 1971 to 1983 for the Padres, San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros and Detroit Tigers. Signed as a catcher out of Walker High School in Atlanta, he developed throwing problems and a circulation problem in his glove hand, and insisted he was finished with catching. At Walker High he was reported to have hit 21 home runs in 21 games. He hit .269 with 81 home runs in 857 games. A pinch hit against the Dodgers in 1978 became one of the most celebrated hits in Giants history. An off-season accident with a hunting knife before 1980 cost him part of a finger and the first base job he was expected to inherit from Willie McCovey. After baseball he ran a hunting and fishing shop in Snellville, Georgia. He died in North Augusta, South Carolina, on July 21, 2023.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 117 | 6 | 60 | 37 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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: #356 San Francisco Giants / Joe Altobelli
More San Francisco Giants cards:
- #11 Marc Hill
- #34 Rob Andrews
- #62 Randy Moffitt
- #84 Greg Minton
- #110 Vida Blue
- #142 Charlie Williams
- #167 Roger Metzger
- #195 Bill Madlock
- #215 Willie McCovey
- #236 Jim Dwyer
- #256 Mike Sadek
- #284 Johnnie LeMaster
- #311 Gary Lavelle
- #338 Vic Harris
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #538 card?
It is card #538 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mike Ivie of the San Francisco Giants.
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.