1976 Topps #655 Mike Vail
About Mike Vail
The Mets called Vail their Player of the Future and traded Rusty Staub to Detroit to clear right field, but two months later, just before spring training, he dislocated his left foot playing basketball. He did not rejoin the club until mid-June and took over in right field in July. His rookie card is #655. After a .302 debut season, he finished 1976 at .217 with nine RBIs.
Mike Vail was a right-handed-hitting outfielder from San Francisco who played ten seasons, 1975 to 1984, for the Mets, Indians, Cubs, Reds, Giants, Expos and Dodgers, hitting .279 with 34 home runs in 665 games. The Dodgers drafted him out of Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose in 1970; he declined, went to De Anza College, and was taken by the Cardinals in the fourth round of the January 1971 secondary draft. St. Louis sent him to the Mets after 1974, and at Tidewater in 1975 he hit .342 and was named International League Player of the Year. Called up in August, he singled off J. R. Richard in his first major league at-bat and then tied the modern rookie record with a 23-game hitting streak; the ball from the 23rd game is displayed at Cooperstown. His best stretch came with the Cubs, where he hit .317 with 17 home runs in 275 games. As teenagers in the Cardinals system he roomed with the future wrestler Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
Sources: Wikipedia · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 112 | 7 | 51 | 42 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 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: #531 New York Mets Team
More New York Mets cards:
- #5 Tom Seaver
- #16 Bob Apodaca
- #40 Dave Kingman
- #64 Jerry Koosman
- #93 Mike Phillips
- #120 Rusty Staub
- #143 Jerry Grote
- #166 Skip Lockwood
- #190 Jon Matlack
- #193 1975 NL Home Run Leaders
- #199 1975 NL Victory Leaders
- #201 1975 NL ERA Leaders
- #203 1975 NL Strikeout Leaders
- #222 Wayne Garrett
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1976 Topps #655 card?
It is card #655 of the 660-card 1976 Topps Baseball set, picturing Mike Vail of the New York Mets.
Is 1976 Topps #655 a rookie card?
Yes - #655 is the 1976 Topps rookie card of Mike Vail.
How many cards are in the 1976 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, numbered 1 through 660 with none skipped and printed in equal quantities as a single series. No card carries a catalogued print variation, so the base set and the master set are the same 660 cards.
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.