1965 Topps #250 Willie Mays
About Willie Mays
Mays's 1965 cards follow a 1964 in which he led the National League with 47 home runs, his third home run crown, while batting .296 with 111 RBI, and in which the Giants made him their captain, the first Black player to hold that job in either major league. Card #4 puts him at the head of the home run leaders alongside Billy Williams, Johnny Callison, Orlando Cepeda and Jim Hart; its back mistakenly lists him with New York instead of San Francisco. Card #6 is the runs batted in leaders card, where he trails Ken Boyer and Ron Santo. Card #250 is his solo issue, a third-series card.
Willie Howard Mays Jr. (1931-2024), the Say Hey Kid, played 23 major league seasons (1948 in the Negro American League, then 1951-1952 and 1954-1973), almost all of them in center field for the New York and San Francisco Giants. New York writers hung the nickname on him during his rookie year for the greeting he used in place of hello, though which writer coined it has been argued over ever since. Mays reached the Giants in 1951 out of the Negro American League's Birmingham Black Barons and won Rookie of the Year, then lost most of two seasons to the Army. He returned in 1954 to take the batting title at .345, the National League Most Valuable Player award and a World Series title, a year remembered for his over-the-shoulder catch of Vic Wertz's drive in Game One. He moved west with the club in 1958 and stayed a star for another decade and a half: a second MVP in 1965, four home run crowns, twelve consecutive Gold Gloves from 1957 through 1968 and 24 All-Star selections. He finished with 660 home runs, third in history when he retired, and 3,293 hits, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1979 on the first ballot with 94.7 percent of the vote.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2) · BaseballCardPedia · CBS Sports
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 5,321 | 2 | 72 | 575 | 797 | 975 | 822 | 2,057 | 21 |
| SGC | 2,023 | 0 | 1 | 48 | 180 | 255 | 456 | 1,024 | 59 |
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
More Willie Mays in this set: #4 League Leaders, #6 League Leaders
Team card: #379 San Francisco Giants
More San Francisco Giants cards:
- #4 National League 1964 Home Run Leaders
- #6 National League 1964 RBI Leaders
- #10 National League 1964 Pitching Leaders
- #32 Herman Franks
- #50 Juan Marichal
- #68 Del Crandall
- #84 Ron Herbel
- #103 Harvey Kuenn
- #118 Hal Lanier
- #159 Jim Duffalo
- #176 Willie McCovey
- #193 Gaylord Perry
- #213 Jim Davenport
- #228 Jack Sanford
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1965 Topps #250 card?
It is card #250 of the 598-card 1965 Topps Baseball set, picturing Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants.
What are the key cards in the 1965 Topps set?
The #350 Mickey Mantle is the grail of the set. The other major keys are #250 Willie Mays, #300 Sandy Koufax, #170 Hank Aaron, #160 Roberto Clemente (printed "Bob" Clemente), #207 Pete Rose, #510 Ernie Banks and #460 Richie (Dick) Allen, plus four Hall of Fame rookies on Rookie Stars cards: #16 Joe Morgan, #477 Steve Carlton, #526 Jim (Catfish) Hunter and #581 Tony Perez. The short-printed cards inside #523-598 are the hardest to find.
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.