1965 Topps #355 Vada Pinson
About Vada Pinson
Card #355, a fifth-series issue, covers Pinson's quietest year to that point: .266 in 1964 with 166 hits, 23 doubles, 23 home runs, 84 RBI and a career-high 99 strikeouts. The Reds still chased the flag to the final weekend, going 92-70 to tie Philadelphia for second, one game behind St. Louis, after the Phillies dropped ten straight. He was 25 for most of it: by his 26th birthday he had 1,177 hits, a total only Ty Cobb, Mel Ott, Al Kaline and Freddie Lindstrom had bettered at that age.
Vada Pinson was born in Memphis and raised in Oakland, where he played trumpet in the McClymonds High School band and seriously weighed music as a career until coach George Powles steered him toward baseball. The same school produced Frank Robinson, Curt Flood and Bill Russell. Cincinnati signed Pinson for a $4,000 bonus before his eighteenth birthday, and two minor league seasons later he was the club's center fielder at nineteen. A left-handed hitter who paired speed with power, he became Robinson's roommate and running mate in a lefty-righty duo that tormented National League pitching. Pinson was a four-time All-Star and a Gold Glove center fielder who led NL outfielders in putouts three straight years, and he reached 200 hits four times, batting over .300 in each of those seasons. He is one of the few players with at least 250 home runs and 300 stolen bases, and he held the Reds' career hits record until Pete Rose passed him. Eighteen seasons with Cincinnati, St. Louis, Cleveland, California and Kansas City left him 2,757 hits, 485 doubles, 256 home runs and a .286 average. The Reds elected him to their own Hall of Fame in 1977, and he coached for four clubs before a stroke killed him in 1995 at 57.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 367 | 6 | 45 | 154 | 78 | 38 | 22 | 24 | 0 |
| SGC | 38 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 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: #316 Cincinnati Reds
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- #47 Tommy Harper
- #60 Jim O'Toole
- #75 Deron Johnson
- #102 Steve Boros
- #120 Frank Robinson
- #141 Charlie James
- #158 Dick Sisler
- #174 Joe Jay
- #192 Jim Coker
- #207 Pete Rose
- #221 John Tsitouris
- #243 Reds 1965 Rookie Stars
- #263 Marty Keough
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #355 card?
It is card #355 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Vada Pinson of the Cincinnati Reds.
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.