1964 Topps #495 Bill Virdon
About Bill Virdon
His hardest year at the plate was 1964, a career-low .243 across 145 games with just 3 home runs and 27 runs batted in. Manager Danny Murtaugh waved the number away, saying he counted the hits Virdon's glove took from opponents as part of that average. Topps put the two together on number 268 from the third series; his own number 495 is a sixth-series card.
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-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 184 | 2 | 13 | 82 | 48 | 20 | 14 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. 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
More Bill Virdon in this set: #268 Bill's Got It
Team card: #373 Pittsburgh Pirates
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #1 1963 National League E.R.A. Leaders
- #7 1963 National League Batting Leaders
- #20 Bob Friend
- #37 Smoky Burgess
- #62 Ted Savage
- #74 Pirates 1964 Rookie Stars
- #91 Bob Bailey
- #117 Earl Francis
- #141 Danny Murtaugh
- #163 Donn Clendenon
- #193 Jerry Lynch
- #209 Bob Allen
- #224 Tommie Sisk
- #246 Manny Mota
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #495 card?
It is card #495 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bill Virdon of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Why is #495 harder to find?
It is a series 5-6 card. Cards from the fifth and sixth print series (#371-522) are a step tougher to find than #1-370; availability in 1964 runs in three tiers, not a cliff.
How many cards are in the 1964 Topps Baseball set?
587 cards, tracked as 589 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 587 with no gaps, and no number carries two different cards; two cards - #4, the A.L. Pitching Leaders, and #517, the seventh-series checklist - carry a catalogued back variation that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, The Topps Archives, 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 2026-10-11.