1972 Topps #661 Bill Virdon
About this card
Every club has a manager card of its own this year, separate from the 24 team cards, and every one of the 24 manager cards pictures the manager alone. Nine of them are Hall of Famers, and #510 Ted Williams manages the Texas Rangers in their first season after the move from Washington.
About Bill Virdon
Virdon inherited the Pirates after Danny Murtaugh retired for health reasons following the 1971 World Series title, and in 1972 he led Pittsburgh to 96-59 and the National League East championship. Cincinnati took the NLCS when Bob Moose threw a wild pitch in the final inning of Game 5. His manager card is #661, a sixth-series issue showing him with the Pirates.
Bill Virdon signed with the Yankees for $1,800 after a tryout in Branson, Missouri. Traded to St. Louis in the 1954 Enos Slaughter deal, he hit .281 with 17 home runs as the 1955 National League Rookie of the Year. The Cardinals sent him to Pittsburgh for Bobby Del Greco and Dick Littlefield in May 1956. He hit .334 after the trade and finished at .319, second to Hank Aaron in the NL batting race. Bob Prince nicknamed him Quail for soft hits that dipped in front of outfielders. He played center field for Pittsburgh's 1960 World Series champions and won a Gold Glove in 1962. His career totals of 1,596 hits and a .267 average included a six-game return as a Pirates player-coach in 1968, when his only hit was a two-run homer. He subsequently managed the Pirates, Yankees, Astros and Expos, earning The Sporting News Manager of the Year awards with New York in 1974 and Houston in 1980. The Missouri Sports Hall of Fame inducted him in 1983.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Retrosheet · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 216 | 4 | 53 | 107 | 34 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-10-19. 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
Team card: #1 World Champions (Pittsburgh Pirates)
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #27 Bob Johnson
- #60 Manny Sanguillen
- #72 Bruce Kison
- #87 1971 N.L. R.B.I. Leaders
- #89 1971 N.L. Home Run Leaders
- #125 Dave Cash
- #152 Gene Clines
- #179 Dock Ellis
- #180 Dock Ellis In Action
- #190 Dave Giusti
- #219 Rennie Stennett
- #221 1971 N.L. Playoffs: Bucs Champs!
- #225 1971 World Series Game No. 3
- #226 1971 World Series Game No. 4
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #661 card?
It is card #661 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bill Virdon of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Every club has a manager card of its own this year, separate from the 24 team cards, and every one of the 24 manager cards pictures the manager alone. Nine of them are Hall of Famers, and #510 Ted Williams manages the Texas Rangers in their first season after the move from Washington.
Why is #661 harder to find?
It is a high number card from the sixth and last print series, #657-787 - with the fifth series, the toughest to find, per PSA.
How many cards are in the 1972 Topps Baseball set?
787 cards, tracked as 794 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 787 with none skipped, in six print series (#1-132, #133-263, #264-394, #395-525, #526-656 and #657-787, the high numbers); 7 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - four Chicago Cubs cards with yellow or green under the "C" and "S" of the team name, the #251 and #478 checklists with smaller or larger print on the front, and the #604 checklist with its copyright line aligned right or left.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, BaseballCardPedia, 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 2026-10-25.