1979 Topps #51 Ray Fosse
About Ray Fosse
Fosse missed the 1978 season after injuring his right leg when he stepped in a hole running to first base in spring training. He needed knee-ligament reconstruction. His Brewers card was 1979 Topps #51. He returned for 19 games with Milwaukee in 1979, batting .231 with 12 hits.
Ray Fosse was a catcher who broke in with the Cleveland Indians in 1967 and spent parts of twelve big league seasons, twice making the All-Star team and twice winning a Gold Glove behind the plate. His best offensive stretch came in 1970, when he hit .313 with 16 home runs in the season's first half before a home-plate collision at the All-Star Game left him with a fractured and separated shoulder that was not properly diagnosed until the following year. Traded to the Oakland Athletics in 1973, he became the regular catcher for back-to-back World Series championship clubs in 1973 and 1974, guiding a pitching staff built around Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue and Ken Holtzman. Injuries marked his career throughout. He later returned to Cleveland, then played for Seattle and Milwaukee, and his last game came in 1979. He spent decades afterward as a television color commentator for the Athletics.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 91 | 9 | 37 | 30 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #51 card?
It is card #51 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ray Fosse of the Milwaukee Brewers.
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.