1978 Topps #279 Bill Virdon
About this card
This is one of the 25 manager cards. Team cards and manager cards are separate cards this year: every club has a team card, and every club except the Milwaukee Brewers has a manager card - George Bamberger was hired in late January 1978, too late to be included.
About Bill Virdon
Virdon's 1977 Houston Astros went 81-81 and finished third in the National League West, matching their third-place finish of 1976 under him. He had previously managed the Pirates in 1972-73 and the Yankees in 1974-75. His manager card is #279 in the 1978 Topps set.
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
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 98 | 16 | 51 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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: #112 Houston Astros Team
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- #158 Joaquin Andujar
- #181 Ken Forsch
- #226 Joe Ferguson
- #263 Danny Walton
- #306 Joe Niekro
- #330 Bob Watson
- #358 Mark Lemongello
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1978 Topps #279 card?
It is card #279 of the 726-card 1978 Topps Baseball set, picturing Bill Virdon of the Houston Astros. This is one of the 25 manager cards. Team cards and manager cards are separate cards this year: every club has a team card, and every club except the Milwaukee Brewers has a manager card - George Bamberger was hired in late January 1978, too late to be included.
How many cards are in the 1978 Topps Baseball set?
726 cards, numbered 1 through 726 with none skipped and issued as a single series, and 728 collectible states: #23 Bump Wills comes with or without a black circle, and #374 Jose Morales with or without black stitching over the red laces, so the master set counts both states of each.
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.