1979 Topps #225 Rich Gossage
About Rich Gossage
#8, from the League Leaders subset, pairs Gossage of the Yankees with Rollie Fingers of the Padres, and #225 shows him alone in New York colors. After a loss to Baltimore on April 19, 1979, Reggie Jackson relayed Gossage's needling about Cliff Johnson's hitting, and the clubhouse fight that followed tore ligaments in Gossage's right thumb. He missed three months, and Ron Guidry volunteered to move to the bullpen. Steinbrenner fined both players, and Johnson was traded to Cleveland two months after the fight. Gossage finished 5-3 with a 2.62 ERA and 18 saves.
Rich Gossage was one of the first modern closers, a right-hander with a rising 100 mph fastball, a bold mustache and a habit of pitching two or three innings to finish a game. Over 22 seasons, 1972 to 1994, he worked 1,002 games for nine clubs and saved 310. He went 124-107 with a 3.01 ERA, led the American League in saves three times and made nine All-Star teams. With the Yankees he saved a career-high 33 games in 1980 and finished third in both the MVP and Cy Young voting. He posted a 0.77 ERA in 1981, and in 1983 he broke Sparky Lyle's club record of 141 saves. He signed with San Diego for 1984 and saved Game 5 of the NLCS against the Cubs, sending the Padres to their first World Series, where Kirk Gibson homered off him in the deciding Game 5 after Gossage refused an intentional walk. On August 6, 1988, with the Cubs, he became the second pitcher to reach 300 saves. Later stops included the Giants, a second turn with the Yankees, the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks in Japan, Texas, Oakland and Seattle, where on August 4, 1994 he became the third pitcher to appear in 1,000 games. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2008.
Sources: SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 564 | 23 | 227 | 199 | 67 | 17 | 18 | 13 | 0 |
| SGC | 52 | 0 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 17 |
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
More Rich Gossage in this set: #8 League Leaders
Team card: #626 New York Yankees / Bob Lemon
More New York Yankees cards:
- #5 1978 Victory Leaders
- #7 1978 ERA Leaders
- #8 1978 Leading Firemen
- #16 Fred Stanley
- #35 Ed Figueroa
- #60 Mickey Rivers
- #89 Dick Tidrow
- #114 Cliff Johnson
- #140 Don Gullett
- #159 Roy White
- #179 Jim Beattie
- #202 Ron Guidry
- #250 Willie Randolph
- #278 Andy Messersmith
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #225 card?
It is card #225 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Rich Gossage of the New York Yankees.
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.