1978 Topps #49 Ed Kranepool
About Ed Kranepool
In early August 1977 the last-place Mets trailed the Dodgers 7-6 in the 11th inning at Shea Stadium when Kranepool pinch-hit an RBI single to tie the score. New York won 8-7 in the 12th. That year he also coauthored a baseball instruction book with a chapter on pinch-hitting. His 1978 Topps card, #49, listed him with the Mets. A Gillette Foamy commercial that year showed him striking out in black and white, shaving, then driving a ball down the right-field line in color.
Ed Kranepool was born November 8, 1944, in the Bronx and starred at James Monroe High School before the expansion Mets signed him on June 27, 1962 for an $80,000 bonus. He debuted that September 22 at seventeen and was still on the roster in 1979 as the last man left from the original 1962 Mets. A left-handed first baseman who also worked the outfield, he spent all eighteen of his major league seasons in New York. He remains the Mets' all-time leader in games played with 1,853, and he finished with 1,418 hits and 118 home runs. He was New York's lone All-Star representative in 1965 and homered in Game Three of the 1969 World Series, then reached the Series again with the 1973 National League champions. From 1974 through 1978 'Steady Eddie' hit .396 as a pinch hitter. His 17-for-35 in 1974 gave him a .486 mark, still the major league single-season record for pinch-hit average over 30 at-bats. He later worked as a stockbroker and restaurateur, joined the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1990, and died September 8, 2024, in Boca Raton, Florida.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · MLB.com · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 176 | 35 | 105 | 26 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1978 Topps #49 card?
It is card #49 of the 726-card 1978 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ed Kranepool of the New York Mets.
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.