1958 Topps #198 Bill Virdon
About Bill Virdon
Topps #198 (1958, print series 3) shows Bill Virdon as a Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder. The 1957 numbers behind it: 144 games, .251, 8 home runs, 50 RBI and 59 runs for a club that sat 36-67 when Danny Murtaugh was hired as manager. Under Murtaugh the Pirates went 26-25 the rest of the way.
William Charles Virdon grew up in West Plains, Missouri, and signed with the Yankees for an $1,800 bonus after a tryout camp in Branson. Stuck behind Mickey Mantle, he was traded to St. Louis in the spring of 1954 in the deal that sent Enos Slaughter to New York, and in 1955 he hit .281 with 17 home runs and was named National League Rookie of the Year. A slow start the next spring cost him that job: the Cardinals sent him to Pittsburgh in May 1956 for Bobby Del Greco and Dick Littlefield, and he batted .334 the rest of the way to finish second to Hank Aaron in the batting race. Broadcaster Bob Prince called him Quail because his soft hits dipped in front of the outfielders like a dying quail. Ten durable seasons in the deep pastures of Forbes Field followed, with a Gold Glove in 1962 and a leading role in the 1960 World Series, where his bad-hop grounder off Tony Kubek opened Pittsburgh's five-run eighth inning in Game Seven. He left the field after 1965 with 1,596 hits and a .267 average, then managed the Pirates, Yankees, Astros and Expos, twice taking Manager of the Year honors from The Sporting News. The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inducted him in 1983.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball Almanac · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 287 | 0 | 10 | 114 | 87 | 42 | 21 | 13 | 0 |
| SGC | 22 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-07-09. Half-grades fold down (8.5→8). PSA counts are straight-graded (the +/Q qualifier rows are excluded).
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1958 Topps Bill Virdon card?
It is card #198 of the 1958 Topps Baseball set - Topps' sixth flagship issue: 494 cards numbered 1-495 (#145 was never issued), with die-cut player photos on solid-color backgrounds and the first team logos on Topps fronts. It pictures Bill Virdon, Pittsburgh Pirates.
How many graded copies of the 1958 Topps Bill Virdon #198 are there?
PSA has graded 287 copies and SGC 22 as of the 2026-07-09 snapshot. Population is a scarcity guide, not a price - high-grade 1958s are notoriously tough because of the set's chronic centering and print-quality issues.
How many cards are in the 1958 Topps set?
494 issued cards, numbered 1-495 - #145 (Ed Bouchee) was pulled before release and never issued, leaving a permanent gap. The PSA master census counts 534 items: the 494 base cards plus 33 yellow-letter variations, 4 numerical checklist-back team cards, the 'Herrer' #433 error, and 2 unnumbered ad cards.
Sources: PSA CardFacts, Beckett, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball-Reference, PSA & SGC population reports, and hobby press-sheet research (Topps Archives, 2026). Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-09-30.