1951 Topps Red Back #49 Al Zarilla
About Al Zarilla
Zarilla hit .325 for Boston in 1950, fifth in the American League, and with Dom DiMaggio at .328 and Ted Williams at .317 he gave the Red Sox an outfield of three .300 hitters. His 92 runs, 76 walks and .493 slugging mark were all career highs, and on June 8 he tied a major league record with four doubles in one game. On December 10, 1950, Boston traded him with Joe Dobson and Dick Littlefield to the White Sox for Bill Wight and Ray Scarborough. In April 1951 he played right field beside Gus Zernial for four games, the only time two players whose surnames began with Z shared a major league outfield, before Zernial went to the Philadelphia A's at the end of the month.
Al Zarilla was a right fielder and line-drive hitter with a strong arm who played ten major league seasons between 1943 and 1953 for the St. Louis Browns, Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox. He had to buy a ticket to his own debut on June 30, 1943, a "Baseball for Victory" game at Sportsman's Park where every player paid his way in, and he collected two hits. In 1944 he hit .466 from July 23 to August 10 as the Browns built a 6 1/2-game lead, finished at .299 and went 1-for-10 in the World Series the Cardinals won in six games. Army service then kept him out until 1946. After a .224 season in 1947, coach Earle Combs told him to stop chasing the long ball, and in 1948 he hit .329 with 174 hits, 39 doubles and 12 home runs and replaced Joe DiMaggio in right field in the All-Star Game. The Browns traded him to Boston on May 5, 1949, for Stan Spence and at least $100,000. Dizzy Dean, broadcasting Browns games, once watched him slide and told listeners, "Zarilla slud into third!" He finished with a .276 average, 61 home runs and 456 RBI in 1,120 games, scouted for several clubs and coached the 1971 Washington Senators under Ted Williams.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 242 | 0 | 10 | 64 | 24 | 28 | 47 | 69 | 0 |
| SGC | 40 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 22 | 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: Team card Chicago White Sox
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- Red Back #36 Gus Zernial
- Red Back #51 Eddie Robinson
- Blue Back #2 Hank Majeski
- Blue Back #19 Phil Masi
- Blue Back #26 Chico Carresquel
- Blue Back #45 Bill Pierce
- Connie Mack's All-Star Eddie Collins
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1951 Topps Red Back #49 card?
It is Red Back #49 in the 135-card 1951 Topps Baseball checklist, picturing Al Zarilla of the Chicago White Sox.
What are the key cards in 1951 Topps?
The three rarest are the Major League All-Stars of Jim Konstanty, Robin Roberts and Eddie Stanky, the three short prints of the issue. Red Back #1 Yogi Berra leads the Red Backs and Blue Back #3 Richie Ashburn the Blue Backs, with Blue Back #50 Johnny Mize and Blue Back #37 Bobby Doerr next; Red Back #49 Al Zarilla and Blue Back #51 Eddie Waitkus are the hardest of the two decks to find in top condition. Of the Team cards, the Boston Red Sox (Ted Williams' first Topps card) and the St. Louis Cardinals are the scarcest, and the Brooklyn Dodgers card pictures Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese and Roy Campanella. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig lead Connie Mack's All-Stars, and Yogi Berra the Major League All-Stars.
How many cards are in the 1951 Topps Baseball set?
135 cards across five issues - the Red Backs and Blue Backs (52 each), nine Team cards, and eleven each of Connie Mack's All-Stars and the Major League All-Stars. With the Zernial and Holmes variations and both versions of each Team card the master set is 146. All 135 count toward the full set; Jim Konstanty, Robin Roberts and Eddie Stanky, the three rarest Major League All-Stars, are so rarely seen that collectors often count a complete set as 132 without them.
Sources: PSA, BaseballCardPedia, Trading Card Database, Baseball-Reference, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-26.