1979 Topps #52 Randy Lerch
About Randy Lerch
Lerch threw 214 innings, second most on the Phillies' staff, and went 10-13 with a 3.74 ERA, his first losing season. On May 17 at Chicago he hit his fourth and last major league home run, then lasted one out in the Phillies' ten-inning win over the Cubs, a game tied 22-22 after nine. A broken right wrist from an attack outside a restaurant after the July 3 game kept him out until July 11. His card that year is #52.
Randy Lerch was a 6-foot-5 left-handed pitcher who spent most of his eleven major league seasons (1975-1986) with the Philadelphia Phillies, then pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers, Montreal Expos and San Francisco Giants. A Sacramento native out of Cordova High School, he was an eighth-round Phillies pick in 1973. His teammates called him Blade after Larry Bowa described him as thin as a blade but sharp as a razor. He held a rotation spot in Philadelphia from 1977 to 1980, when he led the National League with 14 losses and was left off the Phillies' postseason roster after falling out with manager Dallas Green. He was traded to Milwaukee on March 1, 1981, for Dick Davis, was sold to the Expos in August 1982 and signed with the Giants in 1983 within two weeks of his release. The Phillies brought him back for 1986 and released him that June. He finished 60-64 with a 4.53 ERA and 507 strikeouts, and was inducted into the Reading Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 56 | 5 | 24 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 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: #112 Philadelphia Phillies / Danny Ozark
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- #136 Jim Kaat
- #161 Barry Foote
- #177 Ron Reed
- #210 Larry Bowa
- #271 Rawly Eastwick
- #297 Ted Sizemore
- #317 Jose Cardenal
- #345 Tug McGraw
- #382 Jerry Martin
- #419 Dick Ruthven
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #52 card?
It is card #52 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Randy Lerch of the Philadelphia Phillies.
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.