1965 Topps #358 Albie Pearson


About Albie Pearson
Fifth-series card #358 follows the season that cost Pearson his regular job. He hit .214 through the first two months of 1964, lost center field to Bob Perry in June, and finished the year pinch-hitting, pinch-running and making the occasional start in left or center. The line was .223 with 59 hits, two home runs and 16 RBI in 107 games, his runs scored falling from 92 to 34.
Albert Gregory Pearson, born September 12, 1934 in Alhambra, California, was the shortest man in the major leagues, a left-handed hitter and thrower listed at 5 feet 5 inches and 140 pounds. The Boston Red Sox signed him as a pitcher in 1953, and he spent five years in their farm system without reaching the majors; the January 1958 trade that sent him to Washington for Pete Runnels finally got him a job. He hit .275 as the Senators' center fielder and won American League Rookie of the Year. A .188 start in 1959 cost him that job, Washington traded him to Baltimore for Lenny Green, and the Orioles had him back in the minors by 1960. Hearing that Los Angeles had been granted an expansion club, he wrote general manager Fred Haney asking to be taken, and Haney spent the last of the Angels' 30 draft picks on him. Six seasons with the Angels followed, ended by two ruptured discs from a spring training slide in 1966. He retired a .270 hitter with 831 hits, 485 runs and a .369 on-base percentage in 988 games, was ordained a minister in 1972, and in 1997 he and his wife Helen sold their house to found Father's Heart Ranch for abused and neglected boys. He died February 21, 2023.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 292 | 5 | 63 | 143 | 56 | 13 | 7 | 5 | 0 |
| SGC | 9 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 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: #293 Los Angeles Angels
More Los Angeles Angels cards:
- #7 American League 1964 ERA Leaders
- #9 American League 1964 Pitching Leaders
- #11 American League 1964 Strikeout Leaders
- #26 Bobby Knoop
- #46 Bob Lee
- #66 Bill Rigney
- #85 Willie Smith
- #101 Fred Newman
- #124 Tom Satriano
- #140 Dean Chance
- #172 Jim Piersall
- #194 Angels 1965 Rookie Stars
- #210 Jim Fregosi
- #229 Lou Clinton
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #358 card?
It is card #358 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Albie Pearson of the Los Angeles Angels.
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.