1972 Topps #135 Vada Pinson
About Vada Pinson
Pinson collected 133 hits in his first season with California, including 24 doubles, and posted a .321 on-base percentage. Of his 134 outfield games, 112 came in left field, where he turned three double plays, a league high. Card #135 is a second-series issue showing him with the Angels.
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 an All-Star in 1959 and 1960 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, 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 · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 294 | 4 | 55 | 160 | 41 | 21 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 10 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 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: #71 California Angels
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- #102 Lloyd Allen
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- #196 Mel Queen
- #213 Angels 1972 Rookie Stars
- #253 Sandy Alomar
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- #354 Tom Murphy
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1972 Topps #135 card?
It is card #135 of the 787-card 1972 Topps Baseball set, picturing Vada Pinson of the California Angels.
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.