1965 Topps #25 Al McBean
About Al McBean
A first-series card, #25 put McBean among the low numbers that reached the shelves first in 1965, a season he spent closing for a Pittsburgh club that had lost Roy Face to knee trouble for most of the year. He saved 19 games, went 6-6 with a 2.29 ERA and struck out 54 over 114 innings in 62 appearances. On August 18 against Houston he even spent one batter in left field, stepping aside so the Pirates could use a left-hander and then returning to the mound to finish an 8-7 win. He had pitched winter ball in Ponce the previous offseason, his first Puerto Rican season in two years.
Alvin O'Neal McBean, born May 15, 1938, in Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas, was the first pitcher from the U.S. Virgin Islands to reach the major leagues and for decades the only one. Pirates superscout Howie Haak found him at a 1957 tryout camp on St. Thomas that McBean attended as a photographer for a local paper; talked into working out in borrowed spikes, he signed for a $100 bonus and debuted on July 2, 1961. A right-hander with a hard sinker who threw from whatever arm angle suited him that day, he moved between the rotation and the bullpen for ten seasons: Pittsburgh from 1961 through 1968 and again in 1970, San Diego in 1969, and Los Angeles from 1969 into 1970. His best year was 1964 - 8-3 with a 1.91 ERA and 21 saves, good for The Sporting News National League Fireman of the Year. He finished 67-50 with a 3.13 ERA and 63 saves in 409 games. A famously sharp dresser who played to the crowd, he was a friend and Pirates roommate of Roberto Clemente, who stood as best man at his 1962 wedding. He went home to St. Thomas to work in recreation for the territory and died there on January 31, 2024, at 85.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 247 | 2 | 33 | 115 | 61 | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 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. The two checklist variations, #79 and #508, are listed under the wording PSA uses for each state.
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Related cards
Team card: #209 Pittsburgh Pirates
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- #2 National League 1964 Batting Leaders
- #12 National League 1964 Strikeout Leaders
- #54 Joe Gibbon
- #69 Bill Virdon
- #95 Bill Mazeroski
- #121 Gene Alley
- #143 Pirates 1965 Rookie Stars
- #160 Bob Clemente
- #195 Bob Veale
- #218 Dick Schofield
- #232 Steve Blass
- #246 Tom Butters
- #265 Jim Pagliaroni
- #291 Jerry Lynch
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #25 card?
It is card #25 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Al McBean of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
How many cards are in the 1965 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 600 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 598 with no gaps and no printed-number collisions, and two checklist cards - #79 and #508 - carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, 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.