1969 Topps #45 Maury Wills
About Maury Wills
Montreal took Wills from Pittsburgh with the 21st pick of the October 1968 expansion draft, and he led off in the Expos' first game on April 8, 1969. On June 11 the Expos traded him and Manny Mota to the Dodgers for Ron Fairly and Paul Popovich. Across both clubs he hit .274 with 47 RBI, 80 runs and 40 stolen bases. His 1969 Topps card, #45, from the first series, shows him with the Expos.
Maury Wills was the switch-hitting shortstop credited with reviving the stolen base as a weapon, an integral part of the Los Angeles Dodgers teams that won three World Series titles between 1959 and 1965. Signed by Brooklyn in 1950, he spent eight seasons in the minors, starting in Class D, before a June 1959 call-up finally stuck. His breakout came in 1962, when he stole a record 104 bases, breaking the modern-era mark of 96 that Ty Cobb set in 1915, and won the National League Most Valuable Player award over Willie Mays. He led the league in steals six times, made five All-Star teams, and won Gold Gloves at shortstop in 1961 and 1962. After the 1966 season the Dodgers traded him to Pittsburgh, where he played mostly third base; the expansion Montreal Expos drafted him after 1968, and a June 1969 trade sent him back to Los Angeles, where he finished his career. Wills retired in 1972 with a .281 average, 2,134 hits and 586 stolen bases, then managed the Seattle Mariners in parts of 1980 and 1981. He appeared on Hall of Fame ballots for years but was never elected. Through most of his playing career he spent off-seasons performing on banjo in nightclubs. He died in 2022.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 598 | 6 | 143 | 278 | 84 | 35 | 24 | 28 | 0 |
| SGC | 62 | 3 | 16 | 24 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 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.
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Related cards
More Montreal Expos cards:
- #22 Jesus Alou
- #67 Bill Stoneman
- #92 Jack Billingham
- #117 Jim Fairey
- #138 John Bateman
- #183 Don Shaw
- #230 Rusty Staub
- #236 Manny Mota
- #284 Expos 1969 Rookie Stars
- #306 Jim Grant
- #326 Gary Sutherland
- #351 Carroll Sembera
- #378 Jose Herrera
- #399 Bob Bailey
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #45 card?
It is card #45 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Maury Wills of the Montreal Expos.
How many cards are in the 1969 Topps Baseball set?
664 cards, tracked as 696 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 664 with none skipped and no printed number shared by two cards; 32 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately, 23 of them the yellow- and white-letter name pairs of #440-511.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, 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 2026-10-12.