1979 Topps #481 Skip Lockwood
About Skip Lockwood
Lockwood worked 90 2/3 innings for the Mets in 1978. A shoulder injury limited him to 27 relief appearances the following season. He had a 1.49 ERA and 9 saves in 42 1/3 innings. His 1979 Topps Mets card was #481.
Claude Edward Lockwood Jr., called Skip since he was two, signed with the Kansas City Athletics out of West Roxbury's Catholic Memorial High School in June 1964 - as a third baseman, despite going 22-2 on the mound in high school. When the Athletics slid a $35,000 contract across the table, the seventeen-year-old asked for the pen, wrote a 1 in front of the figure and handed it back; a phone call to owner Charlie Finley approved the $135,000. The bonus rule of the day parked him on the Kansas City bench for all of 1965, watching Ed Charles play third base and rooming with fellow bonus signee Catfish Hunter. After two more seasons in the minor leagues, the Athletics made him a pitcher, and Seattle took him in the 1968 expansion draft. He debuted on the mound for the Pilots in 1969, followed the franchise to Milwaukee, where he mostly started, and went to California in a nine-player trade. He pitched in relief for the New York Mets from 1975 through 1979, saving 19 games in 1976 and 20 in 1977. He finished with Boston in 1980. Off the field, he graduated cum laude from Emerson College in 1976 and added an MIT master's degree in 1983.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 89 | 28 | 49 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 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: #82 New York Mets / Joe Torre
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- #197 Bob Apodaca
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- #229 Doug Flynn
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1979 Topps #481 card?
It is card #481 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Skip Lockwood of the New York Mets.
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.