1969 Topps #190 Willie Mays
About Willie Mays
Card #190 is Mays's only 1969 issue, a second-series card. It reports a 1968 spent in the middle of a pitching-dominated season: a .289 average, 23 home runs and 79 RBI, a twelfth and final consecutive Gold Glove, and a second Most Valuable Player award from the All-Star Game. He turned 37 that May and was still the Giants' center fielder. He stayed with the club until an early-season trade in 1972 sent him back to New York, where he closed out his playing career with the Mets and retired after their 1973 World Series run.
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 · CBS Sports
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 5,461 | 6 | 91 | 546 | 747 | 925 | 875 | 2,266 | 5 |
| SGC | 1,947 | 0 | 3 | 49 | 172 | 277 | 423 | 991 | 32 |
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
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- #6 National League 1968 Home Run Leaders
- #8 National League 1968 ERA Leaders
- #10 National League 1968 Pitching Leaders
- #16 Giants 1969 Rookie Stars
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- #102 Jim Davenport
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1969 Topps #190 card?
It is card #190 of the 664-card 1969 Topps Baseball set, picturing Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants.
What are the key cards in the 1969 Topps set?
The #500 Mickey Mantle - his last Topps card as an active player, printed with his name in yellow letters and, far scarcer, in white letters - is the grail of the set, and the #260 Reggie Jackson rookie card is its headline rookie. The other major keys are #50 Bob Clemente (printed "Bob" on the front), #95 Johnny Bench, #100 Hank Aaron, #120 Pete Rose, #190 Willie Mays, #480 Tom Seaver, #533 Nolan Ryan (his first solo card; the rookie is 1968 #177) and #597 AL Rookie Stars with Rollie Fingers. The high numbers (#589-664) are the hardest run in the set.
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.