This was the third and final year of this joint effort between Topps and Burger King. There are 22 cards in the set plus a checklist card. Other than different card numbers; most cards are similar to the ones in the regular Topps set with a few exceptions. Some photos are cropped differently. The checklist card is the only one with a Burger King logo. A 3 card pack could be obtained for children 14 and under with a french fry purchase. They were only available at restaurants in the New York ‘Tri State’ area. Bob Lemon was included even though he was fired on June 18th and replaced by Billy Martin. The key cards were Munson and the trio of future hall of famers.
The Yankees finished in fourth place (89-71) after leading the AL East the previous three years. The starting pitchers were lead by Tommy John, 21-9 with a 2.96 ERA and Ron Guidry, 18-8 2.78. The batters were led by Reggie Jackson, hitting 297 with 29 home runs and 89 RBIs and Graig Nettles 253 20 73. The Yankees lead the American League in attendance with 2,537,765.
This season will always be remembered as the last for their captain Thurman Munson after he died in a plane crash on August 2nd. Roy White also ended his 15 year MLB career.
In 1978 four different teams had Burger King cards but in 1979 it was just the Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies. These cards are still available for reasonable prices in sealed packs. Perhaps this is because of all the boxes sold to collectors out of the backdoor by store managers.
Checklist
- Bob Lemon/Yankees Team
- Thurman Munson #15
- Cliff Johnson
- Ron Guidry # 49 AS <different photo, used the one from his record breaker card>
- Jay Johnstone
- Catfish Hunter (HOF) (Jim Hunter on card)
- Jim Beattie
- Luis Tiant <different photo after FA signing>
- Tommy John AS <different photo after FA signing>
- Goose Gossage #54 (HOF)
- Ed Figueroa
- Chris Chambliss #10
- Willie Randolph #30
- Bucky Dent #20
- Graig Nettles #9 AS
- Fred Stanley
- Jim Spencer
- Lou Piniella
- Roy White #6
- Mickey Rivers #17
- Reggie Jackson #44 AS (HOF)
- Juan Beniquez <different photo after acquired in the Sparky Lyle trade>
- N/A Checklist
- AS = 1979 All Star
- HOF = Member of the Baseball Hall of Fame