1979 Topps #255 Tommy John
About Tommy John
John struck out 124 batters in 213 innings for the Dodgers in 1978. Los Angeles remained his team on 1979 Topps #255. Pitching for the Yankees in 1979, he finished second in American League Cy Young voting and completed 17 of his 36 starts.
Thomas Edward John was a left-handed pitcher born May 22, 1943, in Terre Haute, Indiana, and signed by the Cleveland Indians at eighteen in 1961 on the strength of a curveball taught to him by a friend of his father. He debuted for Cleveland in September 1963, then made his name with the Chicago White Sox from 1965 through 1971. He tied for the American League shutout lead with five in 1966, shared it again with six in 1967, and posted a 1.98 ERA in 1968, the year of his first All-Star selection. Traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Dick Allen after the 1971 season, he tore his ulnar collateral ligament in 1974; the ligament-replacement operation Dr. Frank Jobe performed that year cost him the 1975 season and has been known as Tommy John surgery ever since. He returned to win 20 games in 1977 and pitched in the 1977 and 1978 World Series, then added 21- and 22-win seasons for the New York Yankees. A four-time All-Star, he lost all three World Series he appeared in, and retired in 1989 after a record-tying 26th season with 288 wins, the second most of any pitcher since 1900 outside the Hall of Fame. He died in 2026.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 219 | 26 | 110 | 51 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 1 |
| SGC | 21 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 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 #255 card?
It is card #255 of the 726-card 1979 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tommy John of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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.