1974 Topps #629 Rusty Staub
About Rusty Staub
Pittsburgh's Ramon Hernandez hit Staub with a pitch on May 11, 1973, and he played through the pain of the injury to lead the Mets with 76 RBI. He homered three times against Cincinnati in the NLCS, then hit .423 against Oakland in the World Series, with a home run and six RBI, though the A's won in seven games. Injury-free in 1974, he led the Mets with 145 hits, 78 RBI and 561 at-bats. Card #629 carries him with the Mets.
Daniel Joseph Staub was born in New Orleans on April 1, 1944; a hospital nurse nicknamed him Rusty for the red fuzz on his head, and it stuck for life. A star at Jesuit High School, he signed with the expansion Houston Colt .45s in 1961 for a bonus reported at $100,000 and reached the majors at 19. A left-handed hitter, he grew into a six-time All-Star, closing 23 seasons with 2,716 hits, 499 doubles, 292 home runs and 1,466 RBIs. Traded to Montreal for the Expos' 1969 debut, he became the club's first star, took French lessons for its fans, and in 1993 was the first Expo to have his number retired. He later played for the Mets, Tigers and Rangers, retiring as the only man with 500 hits for four different franchises. Off the field he ran two Manhattan restaurants and founded funds for the families of New York police and firefighters and for city food pantries. Inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012, he died in 2018 at 73.
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 | 260 | 1 | 66 | 137 | 38 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| SGC | 10 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 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: #56 New York Mets
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- #132 Felix Millan
- #153 Jon Matlack
- #179 Mets Field Leaders
- #206 1973 Earned Run Average Leaders
- #207 1973 Strikeout Leaders
- #216 Ray Sadecki
- #234 John Milner
- #245 Cleon Jones
- #265 Tug McGraw
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1974 Topps #629 card?
It is card #629 of the 660-card 1974 Topps Baseball set, picturing Rusty Staub of the New York Mets.
How many cards are in the 1974 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, tracked as 678 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 660 with none skipped, issued all at once as a single series and printed in equal quantities; 17 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - fourteen San Diego / "Washington Nat'l Lea." pairs (thirteen Padres player cards and the #226 team card), the three-state #599 Rookie Pitchers, the #608 Apodaco misspelling and the #654 Jesus Alou front without a position.
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.