1975 Topps #389 Tony Solaita

About Tony Solaita
Tolia "Tony" Solaita, born in Nu'uuli, American Samoa, remains the only major leaguer born there. A raw power hitter, he slugged 51 home runs for High Point-Thomasville in 1968, was named Topps Minor League Player of the Year, and earned a brief callup to the Yankees. New York buried him in the minors for five seasons before Kansas City drafted him from the Pittsburgh chain in December 1973; at 27 he stuck for good, backing up John Mayberry at first base and DH. His 1975 Topps #389 rookie card arrived the same year he hit 16 homers in just 231 at-bats, the AL's best home-run ratio, and on September 7 he became the first player to homer three times in a game at Anaheim Stadium. Dealt to the Angels, then Montreal and Toronto, Solaita finished with 50 career home runs before four powerful seasons in Japan with the Nippon-Ham Fighters, where his 45 homers in 1980 still stand as the club's single-season record. He was murdered in a 1990 land dispute in American Samoa.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 334 | 5 | 62 | 177 | 64 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 20 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Snapshot 2026-08-19. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted. The graders do not split the 1975 Topps Mini or O-Pee-Chee issues into this set.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1975 Topps #389 card?
It is card #389 of the 660-card 1975 Topps Baseball set, picturing Tony Solaita.
Is 1975 Topps #389 a rookie card?
Yes - #389 is the 1975 Topps rookie card of Tony Solaita, one of 64 rookie cards in the set.
How many cards are in the 1975 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, numbered 1-660, with no variations and no short prints - PSA reports the cards were printed in equal quantities. The 1975 Topps Mini and the 1975 O-Pee-Chee issues are separate products with their own checklists.
Sources: Trading Card Database, Cardboard Connection, the PSA price guide, 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 2026-10-05.