1979 Topps #609 Silvio Martinez
About Silvio Martinez
Silvio Martinez's 1979 Topps card, #609, is his rookie card and pictures him with St. Louis. That season he made 29 starts for the Cardinals and worked 206 2/3 innings with a 3.27 ERA. Earlier, he had won a silver medal with the Dominican Republic baseball team at the 1974 Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo.
Silvio Martinez was a Dominican right-handed pitcher who worked in the majors from 1977 to 1981 for the Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals. He arrived in Chicago in a December 10, 1976 deal at the Winter Meetings that sent him and Richie Zisk from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the White Sox for Goose Gossage and Terry Forster. He pitched mostly as a starter, and his one big league save came on August 26, 1977, when he threw two scoreless innings to close a 4-2 White Sox win over the Milwaukee Brewers. He moved to the Cardinals in 1978 and made 22 starts that year, going 9-8 with a 3.64 ERA. His career record was 31-32 with a 3.88 ERA over 107 games. He started 87 of them and struck out 230 batters in 582 2/3 innings. He was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic, on August 19, 1955, and his last game was October 4, 1981.
Sources: Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 44 | 6 | 19 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #609 card?
It is card #609 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Silvio Martinez of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Is 1979 Topps #609 a rookie card?
Yes - #609 is the 1979 Topps rookie card of Silvio Martinez.
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.