1978 Topps #553 Terry Puhl
About Terry Puhl
Puhl hit his first major league home run on the third pitch of the 1978 season, off Tom Seaver, and finished at .289 with 32 stolen bases in 149 games. He shifted to center field when Cesar Cedeno was hurt on June 16 and put together an 18-game hitting streak. He was Houston's lone All-Star, and Willie Stargell congratulated him on the selection. His rookie card is #553, listed with the Astros.
Terry Puhl was a left-handed-hitting outfielder from Melville, Saskatchewan, who spent 14 of his 15 major league seasons with the Houston Astros before finishing with Kansas City in 1991. He had been a pitcher, leading Melville to the 1973 Canadian Midget championship, when Houston signed him and moved him to the outfield, a position he had never played. He hit .280 with 1,361 hits and 217 stolen bases, and his .993 fielding percentage is the best among outfielders in Astros history. In the 1980 NLCS against Philadelphia he hit .526, a playoff record at the time, with 10 hits, after scoring the first run of the one-game playoff that gave Houston its first division title. Hamstring and ankle injuries, including four trips to the disabled list in 1985, cut his playing time in his last seven years. He was named Canadian Baseball player of the year in 1981 and won the first Tip O'Neill Award in 1984. Induction followed into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame and the Houston Astros Hall of Fame. He later coached at the University of Houston-Victoria.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 175 | 39 | 102 | 26 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| SGC | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 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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Frequently asked questions
What is the 1978 Topps #553 card?
It is card #553 of the 726-card 1978 Topps Baseball set, picturing Terry Puhl of the Houston Astros.
Is 1978 Topps #553 a rookie card?
Yes - #553 is the 1978 Topps rookie card of Terry Puhl.
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.